Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Cameroon
Cameroon: Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower was 22.9% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Cameroon, 1971–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Cameroon recorded 22.9% for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in 2023.
That represents a change of down 0.8% on the previous year and up 2.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Cameroon peaked at 52.1% in 1973 and was at its lowest, 19.9%, in 2015.
That places Cameroon 24th out of 169 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 17 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Cameroon, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 51.9% | — |
| 1972 | 51.1% | -1.6% |
| 1973 | 52.1% | +2.0% |
| 1974 | 48.5% | -6.9% |
| 1975 | 47.4% | -2.2% |
| 1976 | 46.1% | -2.7% |
| 1977 | 46.5% | +0.9% |
| 1978 | 45.4% | -2.4% |
| 1979 | 44.2% | -2.7% |
| 1980 | 43.8% | -0.8% |
| 2012 | 22.4% | -49.0% |
| 2014 | 20.8% | -7.0% |
| 2015 | 19.9% | -4.4% |
| 2016 | 20.0% | +0.7% |
| 2021 | 24.3% | +21.5% |
| 2022 | 23.1% | -4.9% |
| 2023 | 22.9% | -0.8% |
Cameroon compared with similar countries
- Cameroon's 22.9% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 9.9%, 2.3× the median. (37 countries reporting)
- Cameroon's 22.9% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 19.1%, 1.2× the median. (35 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Cameroon 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | -49.0% | 43.8% | 22.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 48.1% | 44.2% | 52.1% | 9 |
| 1980s | 43.8% | 43.8% | 43.8% | 1 |
| 2010s | 20.8% | 19.9% | 22.4% | 4 |
| 2020s | 23.5% | 22.9% | 24.3% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Cameroon
More education data for Cameroon
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 118,092 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 611,326 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 321,494 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 322,873 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.01 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 5.29 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 2.6 % 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 0.1816 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Cameroon?
- Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Cameroon was 22.9% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Cameroon?
- The highest recorded value was 52.1% in 1973.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Cameroon?
- The lowest recorded value was 19.9% in 2015.
- How does Cameroon rank for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower?
- Cameroon ranks 24th out of 169 countries with data for 2023.
- Is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower rising or falling in Cameroon?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Cameroon 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, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release