Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia
Colombia: Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age was 7.5% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia, 2000–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia stood at 7.5%.
The figure is up 9.1% on the previous year and down 7.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia peaked at 25.9% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 5.6%, in 2020.
That places Colombia 27th out of 45 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 22 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 25.9% | — |
| 2002 | 18.9% | -26.9% |
| 2003 | 17.6% | -6.9% |
| 2004 | 16.4% | -6.8% |
| 2005 | 16.6% | +1.3% |
| 2008 | 11.0% | -33.8% |
| 2009 | 10.1% | -8.2% |
| 2010 | 8.2% | -18.7% |
| 2011 | 11.0% | +34.0% |
| 2012 | 10.6% | -3.6% |
| 2013 | 9.4% | -11.3% |
| 2014 | 8.1% | -13.8% |
| 2015 | 7.1% | -12.3% |
| 2016 | 8.4% | +18.2% |
| 2017 | 8.0% | -4.8% |
| 2018 | 7.0% | -12.5% |
| 2019 | 7.1% | +1.4% |
| 2020 | 5.6% | -21.1% |
| 2021 | 7.1% | +26.8% |
| 2022 | 7.5% | +5.6% |
| 2023 | 6.9% | -8.0% |
| 2024 | 7.5% | +9.1% |
Colombia compared with similar countries
- Colombia's 7.5% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 4.8%, 1.6× the median. (13 countries reporting)
- Colombia's 7.5% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 5.1%, 1.5× the median. (15 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 16.6% | 10.1% | 25.9% | 7 |
| 2010s | 8.5% | 7.0% | 11.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.9% | 5.6% | 7.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Colombia
More education data for Colombia
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 190,940 (2022)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 234,939 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 963,182 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 937,684 (2022)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 4.85 million (2022)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 4.14 million (2022)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.2 % change on previous year (2022)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2022)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.08 units per person (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia?
- Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia was 7.5% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in Colombia?
- The highest recorded value was 25.9% in 2000.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in Colombia?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.6% in 2020.
- How does Colombia rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- Colombia ranks 27th out of 45 countries with data for 2024.
- Is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age rising or falling in Colombia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 7.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Colombia data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age, rural, male (household survey data) (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 22 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release