Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Ethiopia
Ethiopia: Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower was 36.4% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Ethiopia, 1999–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Ethiopia stood at 36.4%.
That represents a change of down 0.5% on the previous year and up 13.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Ethiopia peaked at 72.1% in 1999 and was at its lowest, 32.0%, in 2014.
Ethiopia ranks 12th of 169 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
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 Ethiopia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 72.1% | — |
| 2000 | 69.1% | -4.2% |
| 2001 | 65.7% | -4.9% |
| 2002 | 63.6% | -3.2% |
| 2003 | 62.3% | -1.9% |
| 2004 | 59.1% | -5.2% |
| 2005 | 50.6% | -14.3% |
| 2006 | 45.4% | -10.4% |
| 2007 | 40.7% | -10.3% |
| 2008 | 36.1% | -11.3% |
| 2009 | 35.7% | -1.2% |
| 2010 | 35.8% | +0.4% |
| 2011 | 33.8% | -5.6% |
| 2012 | 32.1% | -5.2% |
| 2014 | 32.0% | -0.2% |
| 2015 | 33.2% | +3.7% |
| 2022 | 36.8% | +11.0% |
| 2023 | 36.6% | -0.8% |
| 2024 | 36.4% | -0.5% |
Ethiopia compared with similar countries
- Ethiopia's 36.4% is below the median for low income countries, which is 37.1%, 98% of the median. (16 countries reporting)
- Ethiopia's 36.4% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 19.1%, 1.9× the median. (35 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 72.1% | 72.1% | 72.1% | 1 |
| 2000s | 52.8% | 35.7% | 69.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 33.4% | 32.0% | 35.8% | 5 |
| 2020s | 36.6% | 36.4% | 36.8% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Ethiopia
More education data for Ethiopia
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 272,545 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 900,151 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 2.32 million (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 2.16 million (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 5.03 million (2015)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 15.93 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 2.45 % 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 0.1206 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Ethiopia?
- Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Ethiopia was 36.4% 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 Ethiopia?
- The highest recorded value was 72.1% in 1999.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Ethiopia?
- The lowest recorded value was 32.0% in 2014.
- How does Ethiopia rank for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower?
- Ethiopia ranks 12th out of 169 countries with data for 2024.
- Is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower rising or falling in Ethiopia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 13.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ethiopia 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.
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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