Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Belgium
Belgium: Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower was 1.6% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Belgium, 2002–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Belgium recorded 1.6% for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in 2023.
That represents a change of up 30.3% on the previous year and down 8.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Belgium peaked at 2.0% in 2011 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 2002.
Belgium ranks 130th of 169 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 21 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Belgium, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 0.0% | — |
| 2004 | 0.5% | +1635.5% |
| 2005 | 0.5% | -9.2% |
| 2006 | 0.6% | +29.5% |
| 2007 | 0.8% | +30.7% |
| 2008 | 1.0% | +18.7% |
| 2009 | 1.1% | +12.5% |
| 2010 | 1.3% | +11.7% |
| 2011 | 2.0% | +59.3% |
| 2012 | 1.8% | -11.0% |
| 2013 | 1.7% | -2.9% |
| 2014 | 1.7% | -2.1% |
| 2015 | 1.7% | +0.9% |
| 2016 | 1.8% | +4.3% |
| 2017 | 1.2% | -31.8% |
| 2018 | 1.2% | -1.0% |
| 2019 | 1.2% | -0.9% |
| 2020 | 1.1% | -5.6% |
| 2021 | 1.4% | +20.0% |
| 2022 | 1.2% | -10.0% |
| 2023 | 1.6% | +30.3% |
Belgium compared with similar countries
- Belgium's 1.6% is below the median for high income countries, which is 2.1%, 77% of the median. (64 countries reporting)
- Belgium's 1.6% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 1.5%, 1.1× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Belgium 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | +1635.5% | 0.0% | 0.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.7% | 0.0% | 1.1% | 7 |
| 2010s | 1.6% | 1.2% | 2.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.3% | 1.1% | 1.6% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Belgium
More education data for Belgium
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 137,795 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 17,384 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 221,494 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 210,503 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.18 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 814,388 (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -0.1356 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0691 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Belgium?
- Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Belgium was 1.6% 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 Belgium?
- The highest recorded value was 2.0% in 2011.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Belgium?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 2002.
- How does Belgium rank for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower?
- Belgium ranks 130th 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 Belgium?
- Over the last ten years it is down 8.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Belgium 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, male (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 21 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release