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 5.6% 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
In 2023, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia stood at 5.6%.
That represents a change of down 17.6% on the previous year and up 30.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia peaked at 11.2% in 2002 and was at its lowest, 4.3%, in 2013.
Colombia ranks 17th of 30 countries on this measure, 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 | 11.2% | — |
| 2003 | 8.7% | -22.3% |
| 2004 | 8.7% | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 11.1% | +27.0% |
| 2008 | 6.7% | -39.4% |
| 2009 | 5.7% | -14.9% |
| 2010 | 7.2% | +26.9% |
| 2011 | 5.8% | -19.8% |
| 2012 | 5.4% | -6.9% |
| 2013 | 4.3% | -20.4% |
| 2014 | 5.6% | +30.2% |
| 2015 | 7.0% | +25.7% |
| 2016 | 5.3% | -24.7% |
| 2017 | 5.1% | -3.8% |
| 2018 | 5.8% | +13.7% |
| 2019 | 6.7% | +15.5% |
| 2020 | 6.7% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 6.3% | -6.0% |
| 2022 | 6.8% | +7.9% |
| 2023 | 5.6% | -17.6% |
Colombia compared with similar countries
- Colombia's 5.6% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 4.1%, 1.4× the median. (11 countries reporting)
- Colombia's 5.6% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 3.5%, 1.6× the median. (16 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 8.7% | 5.7% | 11.2% | 6 |
| 2010s | 5.8% | 4.3% | 7.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.3% | 5.6% | 6.8% | 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 5.6% 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 11.2% 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 4.3% in 2013.
- How does Colombia rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- Colombia ranks 17th out of 30 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 up 30.2%. 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, poorest quintile, both sexes (household survey data) (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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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