Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Gambia
Gambia: Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower was 16.1% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Gambia, 2006–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Gambia stood at 16.1%. That is the lowest value across all 19 years on record.
The figure is down 7.3% on the previous year and down 47.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Gambia peaked at 40.7% in 2006 and was at its lowest, 16.1%, in 2025.
That places Gambia 38th out of 181 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 19 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Gambia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 40.7% | — |
| 2007 | 38.1% | -6.4% |
| 2008 | 39.6% | +3.9% |
| 2010 | 37.6% | -4.8% |
| 2011 | 40.2% | +6.7% |
| 2012 | 37.3% | -7.2% |
| 2013 | 34.7% | -6.9% |
| 2014 | 33.5% | -3.5% |
| 2015 | 30.6% | -8.6% |
| 2016 | 29.2% | -4.6% |
| 2017 | 26.7% | -8.6% |
| 2018 | 24.1% | -9.5% |
| 2019 | 21.4% | -11.2% |
| 2020 | 19.6% | -8.3% |
| 2021 | 19.6% | -0.3% |
| 2022 | 18.9% | -3.3% |
| 2023 | 17.4% | -8.2% |
| 2024 | 17.3% | -0.2% |
| 2025 | 16.1% | -7.3% |
Gambia compared with similar countries
- Gambia's 16.1% is below the median for low income countries, which is 34.2%, 47% of the median. (16 countries reporting)
- Gambia's 16.1% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 19.3%, 83% of the median. (35 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 39.4% | 38.1% | 40.7% | 3 |
| 2010s | 31.5% | 21.4% | 40.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 18.2% | 16.1% | 19.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Gambia
More education data for Gambia
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 12,452 (2021)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 16,389 (2025)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 71,238 (2025)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 77,061 (2025)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 369,783 (2021)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 442,901 (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 2.4 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0002 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1569 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Gambia?
- Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Gambia was 16.1% in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Gambia?
- The highest recorded value was 40.7% in 2006.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Gambia?
- The lowest recorded value was 16.1% in 2025.
- How does Gambia rank for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower?
- Gambia ranks 38th out of 181 countries with data for 2025.
- Is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower rising or falling in Gambia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 47.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Gambia data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 19 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release