Out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary in Jamaica
Jamaica: Out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary was 14.6% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary in Jamaica, 1999–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary in Jamaica stood at 14.6%.
That represents a change of down 8.9% on the previous year and up 4.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary in Jamaica peaked at 30.8% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 13.2%, in 2016.
That places Jamaica 52nd out of 178 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 18 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary in Jamaica, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 15.2% | — |
| 2000 | 16.6% | +9.2% |
| 2001 | 16.8% | +1.3% |
| 2002 | 16.6% | -1.2% |
| 2003 | 17.1% | +3.2% |
| 2004 | 13.7% | -20.1% |
| 2005 | 14.2% | +3.9% |
| 2013 | 13.4% | -5.6% |
| 2014 | 14.0% | +4.4% |
| 2015 | 14.2% | +1.3% |
| 2016 | 13.2% | -7.3% |
| 2017 | 14.4% | +9.4% |
| 2018 | 14.6% | +1.6% |
| 2019 | 14.3% | -2.3% |
| 2021 | 18.3% | +28.3% |
| 2022 | 30.8% | +67.8% |
| 2023 | 16.1% | -47.8% |
| 2024 | 14.6% | -8.9% |
Jamaica compared with similar countries
- Jamaica's 14.6% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 8.8%, 1.7× the median. (52 countries reporting)
- Jamaica's 14.6% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 10.6%, 1.4× the median. (36 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary in Jamaica changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | +67.8% | 18.3% | 30.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 15.2% | 15.2% | 15.2% | 1 |
| 2000s | 15.8% | 13.7% | 17.1% | 6 |
| 2010s | 14.0% | 13.2% | 14.6% | 7 |
| 2020s | 20.0% | 14.6% | 30.8% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Jamaica
More education data for Jamaica
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 11,043 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 4,597 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 52,983 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 51,265 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 177,095 (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 211,097 (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 8.14 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0744 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary in Jamaica?
- Out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary in Jamaica was 14.6% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary recorded in Jamaica?
- The highest recorded value was 30.8% in 2022.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary recorded in Jamaica?
- The lowest recorded value was 13.2% in 2016.
- How does Jamaica rank for out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary?
- Jamaica ranks 52nd out of 178 countries with data for 2024.
- Is out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary rising or falling in Jamaica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Jamaica data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary, lower secondary and upper secondary school age, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 18 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release