Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Lesotho
Lesotho: Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower was 0.9217 GPIA in 2024. ▲ Rising
Latest (2024)
0.9217 GPIA
Change on year
up 1.2%
World rank
100th
of 169 countries
All-time high
0.9217 GPIA
in 2024
All-time low
0.4219 GPIA
in 1979
Years of data
43
1973–2024
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Lesotho, 1973–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in GPIA.
Analysis
Lesotho recorded 0.9217 GPIA for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in 2024. That is the highest value across all 43 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.2% on the previous year and up 23.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Lesotho peaked at 0.9217 GPIA in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.4219 GPIA, in 1979.
Lesotho ranks 100th of 169 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 43 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | GPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 0.4987 GPIA | — |
| 1977 | 0.4344 GPIA | -12.9% |
| 1978 | 0.4301 GPIA | -1.0% |
| 1979 | 0.4219 GPIA | -1.9% |
| 1980 | 0.4424 GPIA | +4.9% |
| 1981 | 0.4701 GPIA | +6.3% |
| 1982 | 0.4439 GPIA | -5.6% |
| 1983 | 0.4567 GPIA | +2.9% |
| 1984 | 0.5047 GPIA | +10.5% |
| 1985 | 0.4881 GPIA | -3.3% |
| 1986 | 0.5234 GPIA | +7.2% |
| 1991 | 0.5447 GPIA | +4.1% |
| 1992 | 0.5801 GPIA | +6.5% |
| 1993 | 0.6493 GPIA | +11.9% |
| 1994 | 0.6797 GPIA | +4.7% |
| 1996 | 0.7246 GPIA | +6.6% |
| 1998 | 0.8009 GPIA | +10.5% |
| 1999 | 0.8026 GPIA | +0.2% |
| 2000 | 0.762 GPIA | -5.1% |
| 2001 | 0.7595 GPIA | -0.3% |
| 2002 | 0.7547 GPIA | -0.6% |
| 2003 | 0.7127 GPIA | -5.6% |
| 2004 | 0.7401 GPIA | +3.9% |
| 2005 | 0.7273 GPIA | -1.7% |
| 2006 | 0.6916 GPIA | -4.9% |
| 2007 | 0.7601 GPIA | +9.9% |
| 2008 | 0.7423 GPIA | -2.3% |
| 2009 | 0.6812 GPIA | -8.2% |
| 2010 | 0.7119 GPIA | +4.5% |
| 2011 | 0.7299 GPIA | +2.5% |
| 2012 | 0.7461 GPIA | +2.2% |
| 2013 | 0.7111 GPIA | -4.7% |
| 2014 | 0.7482 GPIA | +5.2% |
| 2015 | 0.7922 GPIA | +5.9% |
| 2016 | 0.7928 GPIA | +0.1% |
| 2017 | 0.8019 GPIA | +1.1% |
| 2018 | 0.8414 GPIA | +4.9% |
| 2019 | 0.752 GPIA | -10.6% |
| 2020 | 0.8832 GPIA | +17.4% |
| 2021 | 0.8986 GPIA | +1.7% |
| 2022 | 0.9149 GPIA | +1.8% |
| 2023 | 0.911 GPIA | -0.4% |
| 2024 | 0.9217 GPIA | +1.2% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 0.9217 GPIA is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.9426 GPIA, 98% of the median. (37 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 0.9217 GPIA is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 1 GPIA, 92% of the median. (35 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.4463 GPIA | 0.4219 GPIA | 0.4987 GPIA | 4 |
| 1980s | 0.4756 GPIA | 0.4424 GPIA | 0.5234 GPIA | 7 |
| 1990s | 0.6831 GPIA | 0.5447 GPIA | 0.8026 GPIA | 7 |
| 2000s | 0.7331 GPIA | 0.6812 GPIA | 0.762 GPIA | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.7628 GPIA | 0.7111 GPIA | 0.8414 GPIA | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.9059 GPIA | 0.8832 GPIA | 0.9217 GPIA | 5 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
- 97 South Africa 0.9231 GPIA compare
- 98 Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of 0.923 GPIA compare
- 99 Burkina Faso 0.9221 GPIA compare
- 101 Slovakia 0.9166 GPIA compare
- 102 Seychelles 0.9016 GPIA compare
- 103 Micronesia, Federated States of 0.8978 GPIA compare
More education data for Lesotho
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 5,672 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 30,627 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 22,924 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 23,698 (2022)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 136,497 (2017)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 309,480 (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -0.8093 % 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 0.1324 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Lesotho?
- Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Lesotho was 0.9217 GPIA 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 Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 0.9217 GPIA in 2024.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4219 GPIA in 1979.
- How does Lesotho rank for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower?
- Lesotho ranks 100th 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 Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 23.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Lesotho 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, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 43 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release