Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in North Korea
North Korea: Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes was 0.3% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in North Korea, 2000–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
North Korea recorded 0.3% for out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in 2025.
The figure is down 40.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in North Korea peaked at 0.9% in 2007 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 2000.
That places North Korea 176th out of 206 countries with data for 2025, putting it 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 of primary school age, both sexes in North Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 0.1% | — |
| 2001 | 0.1% | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.2% | +100.0% |
| 2003 | 0.3% | +50.0% |
| 2004 | 0.4% | +33.3% |
| 2005 | 0.7% | +75.0% |
| 2006 | 0.8% | +14.3% |
| 2007 | 0.9% | +12.5% |
| 2008 | 0.9% | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 0.8% | -11.1% |
| 2010 | 0.8% | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 0.8% | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 0.7% | -12.5% |
| 2013 | 0.5% | -28.6% |
| 2014 | 0.6% | +20.0% |
| 2015 | 0.5% | -16.7% |
| 2016 | 0.5% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 0.4% | -20.0% |
| 2018 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.3% | -25.0% |
| 2024 | 0.3% | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 0.3% | +0.0% |
North Korea compared with similar countries
- North Korea's 0.3% is below the median for low income countries, which is 25.4%, 1% of the median. (24 countries reporting)
- North Korea's 0.3% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 3.5%, 9% of the median. (32 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in North Korea 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 | +100.0% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.5% | 0.1% | 0.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.6% | 0.4% | 0.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 6 |
Countries ranked near North Korea
More education data for North Korea
- Theoretical duration of lower secondary education (years), annual 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of primary education (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of pre-primary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (pre-primary to post-secondary non) 0.0494 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), gaps filled 2,021 tertiary education (2022)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), annual growth 0.0495 % change on previous year (2022)
- Theoretical duration of secondary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in North Korea?
- Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in North Korea was 0.3% 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 North Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 0.9% in 2007.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes recorded in North Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 2000.
- How does North Korea rank for out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes?
- North Korea ranks 176th 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 North Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 40.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this North Korea 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