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 1.7% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Latest (2023)
1.7%
Change on year
down 29.2%
World rank
29th
of 37 countries
All-time high
4.1%
in 2005
All-time low
1.2%
in 2015
Years of data
20
2002–2023
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia, 2002–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2023, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia stood at 1.7%.
The figure is down 29.2% on the previous year and down 48.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia peaked at 4.1% in 2005 and was at its lowest, 1.2%, in 2015.
Colombia ranks 29th of 37 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 20 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 3.6% | — |
| 2003 | 3.7% | +2.8% |
| 2004 | 2.6% | -29.7% |
| 2005 | 4.1% | +59.2% |
| 2008 | 2.5% | -39.6% |
| 2009 | 3.4% | +36.0% |
| 2010 | 1.4% | -58.9% |
| 2011 | 3.5% | +150.3% |
| 2012 | 2.9% | -17.1% |
| 2013 | 3.3% | +13.8% |
| 2014 | 2.9% | -12.1% |
| 2015 | 1.2% | -60.0% |
| 2016 | 1.9% | +63.9% |
| 2017 | 2.7% | +42.1% |
| 2018 | 2.5% | -7.4% |
| 2019 | 2.1% | -16.0% |
| 2020 | 2.1% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 2.7% | +28.6% |
| 2022 | 2.4% | -11.1% |
| 2023 | 1.7% | -29.2% |
Colombia compared with similar countries
- Colombia's 1.7% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 1.7%, 1.0× the median. (11 countries reporting)
- Colombia's 1.7% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 1.6%, 1.1× the median. (16 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 3.3% | 2.5% | 4.1% | 6 |
| 2010s | 2.4% | 1.2% | 3.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.2% | 1.7% | 2.7% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Colombia
- 26 El Salvador 2.4% compare
- 27 Jordan 1.9% compare
- 28 Costa Rica 1.8% compare
- 30 Argentina 1.5% compare
- 31 Dominican Republic 1.4% compare
- 32 Ecuador 1.3% compare
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 1.7% in 2023, 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 4.1% in 2005.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in Colombia?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.2% in 2015.
- How does Colombia rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- Colombia ranks 29th out of 37 countries with data for 2023.
- 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 48.5%. 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, urban, fourth quintile, both sexes (household survey data) (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 20 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release