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 3.6% 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
Colombia recorded 3.6% for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in 2023.
That represents a change of down 23.4% on the previous year and down 12.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia peaked at 9.9% in 2005 and was at its lowest, 3.1%, in 2017.
That places Colombia 19th out of 30 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 | 7.2% | — |
| 2003 | 6.6% | -8.3% |
| 2004 | 7.0% | +6.1% |
| 2005 | 9.9% | +41.1% |
| 2008 | 4.5% | -54.4% |
| 2009 | 4.3% | -4.4% |
| 2010 | 3.9% | -8.6% |
| 2011 | 4.4% | +11.9% |
| 2012 | 4.3% | -2.3% |
| 2013 | 4.1% | -4.7% |
| 2014 | 4.0% | -2.4% |
| 2015 | 3.6% | -11.2% |
| 2016 | 4.2% | +18.2% |
| 2017 | 3.1% | -26.2% |
| 2018 | 3.7% | +19.4% |
| 2019 | 4.0% | +8.1% |
| 2020 | 5.0% | +25.0% |
| 2021 | 5.4% | +8.0% |
| 2022 | 4.7% | -13.0% |
| 2023 | 3.6% | -23.4% |
Colombia compared with similar countries
- Colombia's 3.6% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 1.9%, 1.9× the median. (10 countries reporting)
- Colombia's 3.6% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 1.7%, 2.1× the median. (15 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 6.6% | 4.3% | 9.9% | 6 |
| 2010s | 3.9% | 3.1% | 4.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.7% | 3.6% | 5.4% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Colombia
- 16 Jordan 6.5% compare
- 17 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 6.3% compare
- 18 Nepal 5.3% compare
- 20 Ecuador 2.6% compare
- 21 Costa Rica 2.3% compare
- 22 Dominican Republic 2.1% 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 3.6% 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 9.9% 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 3.1% in 2017.
- How does Colombia rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- Colombia ranks 19th 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 down 12.2%. 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, second 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