Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Mauritania
Mauritania: Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower was 18.3% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Mauritania, 2001–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Mauritania recorded 18.3% for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 16 years on record.
That represents a change of down 43.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Mauritania peaked at 43.5% in 2002 and was at its lowest, 18.3%, in 2024.
That places Mauritania 33rd out of 181 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 16 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Mauritania, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 43.0% | — |
| 2002 | 43.5% | +1.0% |
| 2004 | 36.9% | -15.1% |
| 2005 | 37.1% | +0.7% |
| 2006 | 36.1% | -2.9% |
| 2011 | 31.7% | -12.2% |
| 2012 | 30.0% | -5.3% |
| 2013 | 33.4% | +11.4% |
| 2014 | 32.4% | -3.0% |
| 2015 | 29.9% | -7.7% |
| 2016 | 38.3% | +28.2% |
| 2017 | 35.2% | -8.2% |
| 2018 | 32.2% | -8.4% |
| 2019 | 31.6% | -2.0% |
| 2020 | 34.7% | +9.9% |
| 2024 | 18.3% | -47.2% |
Mauritania compared with similar countries
- Mauritania's 18.3% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 9.0%, 2.0× the median. (39 countries reporting)
- Mauritania's 18.3% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 19.3%, 95% of the median. (35 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 39.3% | 36.1% | 43.5% | 5 |
| 2010s | 32.7% | 29.9% | 38.3% | 9 |
| 2020s | 26.5% | 18.3% | 34.7% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Mauritania
- 30 Cameroon 19.9% compare
- 31 Côte d'Ivoire 19.3% compare
- 32 Madagascar 18.5% compare
- 34 Iraq 17.7% compare
- 35 El Salvador 17.5% compare
- 36 Tunisia 16.8%
More education data for Mauritania
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 9,029 (2020)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 52,338 (2020)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 258,591 (2020)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 891,821 (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 3.49 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1725 units per person (2024)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Enrolment in primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 891,821 (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Mauritania?
- Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Mauritania was 18.3% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Mauritania?
- The highest recorded value was 43.5% in 2002.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Mauritania?
- The lowest recorded value was 18.3% in 2024.
- How does Mauritania rank for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower?
- Mauritania ranks 33rd out of 181 countries with data for 2024.
- Is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower rising or falling in Mauritania?
- Over the last ten years it is down 43.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Mauritania 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.
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CSV · JSON — 16 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release