Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Ethiopia
Ethiopia: Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes was 17.6% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Ethiopia, 2000–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Ethiopia is 17.6%, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.
That represents a change of down 4.9% on the previous year and down 28.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Ethiopia peaked at 63.3% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 17.6%, in 2025.
Ethiopia ranks 40th of 206 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Ethiopia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 63.3% | — |
| 2001 | 60.1% | -5.1% |
| 2002 | 57.2% | -4.8% |
| 2003 | 54.3% | -5.1% |
| 2004 | 51.0% | -6.1% |
| 2005 | 47.1% | -7.6% |
| 2006 | 43.4% | -7.9% |
| 2007 | 39.7% | -8.5% |
| 2008 | 36.3% | -8.6% |
| 2009 | 33.3% | -8.3% |
| 2010 | 31.0% | -6.9% |
| 2011 | 29.2% | -5.8% |
| 2012 | 27.5% | -5.8% |
| 2013 | 26.3% | -4.4% |
| 2014 | 25.3% | -3.8% |
| 2015 | 24.7% | -2.4% |
| 2016 | 24.4% | -1.2% |
| 2017 | 24.0% | -1.6% |
| 2018 | 23.7% | -1.3% |
| 2019 | 23.3% | -1.7% |
| 2020 | 22.9% | -1.7% |
| 2021 | 22.0% | -3.9% |
| 2022 | 20.8% | -5.5% |
| 2023 | 19.5% | -6.3% |
| 2024 | 18.5% | -5.1% |
| 2025 | 17.6% | -4.9% |
Ethiopia compared with similar countries
- Ethiopia's 17.6% is below the median for low income countries, which is 25.4%, 69% of the median. (24 countries reporting)
- Ethiopia's 17.6% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 16.5%, 1.1× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 48.6% | 33.3% | 63.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 25.9% | 23.3% | 31.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 20.2% | 17.6% | 22.9% | 6 |
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 of primary school age, both sexes in Ethiopia?
- Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Ethiopia was 17.6% in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes recorded in Ethiopia?
- The highest recorded value was 63.3% in 2000.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes recorded in Ethiopia?
- The lowest recorded value was 17.6% in 2025.
- How does Ethiopia rank for out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes?
- Ethiopia ranks 40th out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
- Is out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes rising or falling in Ethiopia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 28.7%. 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 of primary school age, both sexes (modelled data) (%). 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