Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Iceland
Iceland: Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower was 1.8% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Iceland, 1998–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Iceland recorded 1.8% for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in 2023. That is the highest value across all 26 years on record.
That represents a change of up 16.5% on the previous year and up 51.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Iceland peaked at 1.8% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 0.9%, in 2016.
Iceland ranks 127th of 169 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Iceland, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 1.3% | — |
| 1999 | 1.5% | +18.8% |
| 2000 | 1.4% | -7.2% |
| 2001 | 1.2% | -14.5% |
| 2002 | 1.6% | +33.1% |
| 2003 | 1.4% | -12.6% |
| 2004 | 1.5% | +4.5% |
| 2005 | 1.4% | -9.1% |
| 2006 | 1.6% | +21.6% |
| 2007 | 1.3% | -19.8% |
| 2008 | 1.3% | -1.9% |
| 2009 | 1.4% | +11.2% |
| 2010 | 1.1% | -24.0% |
| 2011 | 1.2% | +13.9% |
| 2012 | 1.1% | -11.4% |
| 2013 | 1.2% | +6.0% |
| 2014 | 1.2% | +2.7% |
| 2015 | 1.1% | -7.2% |
| 2016 | 0.9% | -19.5% |
| 2017 | 0.9% | +3.4% |
| 2018 | 1.1% | +22.6% |
| 2019 | 1.0% | -13.8% |
| 2020 | 1.3% | +36.3% |
| 2021 | 1.3% | -4.5% |
| 2022 | 1.5% | +18.7% |
| 2023 | 1.8% | +16.5% |
Iceland compared with similar countries
- Iceland's 1.8% is below the median for high income countries, which is 2.2%, 79% of the median. (64 countries reporting)
- Iceland's 1.8% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 1.6%, 1.1× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1.4% | 1.3% | 1.5% | 2 |
| 2000s | 1.4% | 1.2% | 1.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.5% | 1.3% | 1.8% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More education data for Iceland
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 0 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 6,661 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 6,167 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 37,056 (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 32,314 (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.17 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0838 units per person (2023)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Iceland?
- Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Iceland was 1.8% 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 Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 1.8% in 2023.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.9% in 2016.
- How does Iceland rank for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower?
- Iceland ranks 127th 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 Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 51.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Iceland 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 — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release