Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe: Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower was 12.0% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Zimbabwe, 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 Zimbabwe stood at 12.0%.
The figure is up 7.0% on the previous year and up 21.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Zimbabwe peaked at 15.4% in 2018 and was at its lowest, 2.2%, in 2001.
Zimbabwe ranks 46th of 169 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 18 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Zimbabwe, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 10.1% | — |
| 2000 | 7.1% | -29.4% |
| 2001 | 2.2% | -69.2% |
| 2002 | 5.0% | +128.5% |
| 2003 | 7.3% | +46.6% |
| 2012 | 8.8% | +19.8% |
| 2013 | 9.7% | +10.0% |
| 2014 | 9.9% | +2.5% |
| 2015 | 13.9% | +40.5% |
| 2016 | 14.4% | +3.2% |
| 2017 | 15.1% | +5.1% |
| 2018 | 15.4% | +2.0% |
| 2019 | 14.8% | -3.8% |
| 2020 | 14.6% | -1.5% |
| 2021 | 10.8% | -25.7% |
| 2022 | 10.9% | +0.8% |
| 2023 | 11.2% | +2.6% |
| 2024 | 12.0% | +7.0% |
Zimbabwe compared with similar countries
- Zimbabwe's 12.0% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 9.7%, 1.2× the median. (37 countries reporting)
- Zimbabwe's 12.0% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 20.5%, 59% of 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 Zimbabwe 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | +128.5% | 2.2% | 5.0% |
| 2001 | -69.2% | 7.1% | 2.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 10.1% | 10.1% | 10.1% | 1 |
| 2000s | 5.4% | 2.2% | 7.3% | 4 |
| 2010s | 12.7% | 8.8% | 15.4% | 8 |
| 2020s | 11.9% | 10.8% | 14.6% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Zimbabwe
More education data for Zimbabwe
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 42,585 (2013)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 12,514 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 328,055 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 322,698 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 957,461 (2013)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.94 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -0.4866 % 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 0.1767 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Zimbabwe?
- Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Zimbabwe was 12.0% 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 Zimbabwe?
- The highest recorded value was 15.4% in 2018.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.2% in 2001.
- How does Zimbabwe rank for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower?
- Zimbabwe ranks 46th 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 Zimbabwe?
- Over the last ten years it is up 21.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Zimbabwe 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 — 18 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release