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 2.8% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia, 2002–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Colombia recorded 2.8% for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 26.3% on the previous year and unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia peaked at 6.8% in 2002 and was at its lowest, 2.4%, in 2019.
That places Colombia 23rd out of 34 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
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 | 6.8% | — |
| 2003 | 5.6% | -17.6% |
| 2004 | 3.9% | -30.4% |
| 2005 | 5.3% | +36.8% |
| 2008 | 3.4% | -36.3% |
| 2009 | 3.9% | +14.7% |
| 2010 | 2.9% | -26.3% |
| 2011 | 3.9% | +35.7% |
| 2012 | 3.7% | -5.1% |
| 2013 | 2.8% | -24.3% |
| 2014 | 3.4% | +21.4% |
| 2015 | 2.8% | -18.7% |
| 2016 | 2.6% | -5.9% |
| 2017 | 3.2% | +23.1% |
| 2018 | 3.3% | +3.1% |
| 2019 | 2.4% | -27.3% |
| 2020 | 3.0% | +25.0% |
| 2021 | 3.1% | +3.3% |
| 2022 | 3.8% | +22.6% |
| 2023 | 2.8% | -26.3% |
Colombia compared with similar countries
- Colombia's 2.8% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 2.7%, 1.0× the median. (11 countries reporting)
- Colombia's 2.8% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 2.8%, 1.0× the median. (16 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 4.8% | 3.4% | 6.8% | 6 |
| 2010s | 3.1% | 2.4% | 3.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.2% | 2.8% | 3.8% | 4 |
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 2.8% 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 6.8% in 2002.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in Colombia?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.4% in 2019.
- How does Colombia rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- Colombia ranks 23rd out of 34 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 unchanged. 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, middle 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