Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes was 6.2% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Sri Lanka, 2000–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Sri Lanka recorded 6.2% for out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.6% on the previous year and up 19.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Sri Lanka peaked at 7.6% in 2005 and was at its lowest, 4.8%, in 2017.
Sri Lanka ranks 82nd of 206 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
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 Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 5.3% | — |
| 2001 | 5.6% | +5.7% |
| 2002 | 6.1% | +8.9% |
| 2003 | 6.7% | +9.8% |
| 2004 | 7.4% | +10.4% |
| 2005 | 7.6% | +2.7% |
| 2006 | 7.4% | -2.6% |
| 2007 | 6.8% | -8.1% |
| 2008 | 6.1% | -10.3% |
| 2009 | 5.4% | -11.5% |
| 2010 | 5.3% | -1.9% |
| 2011 | 5.5% | +3.8% |
| 2012 | 5.8% | +5.5% |
| 2013 | 5.7% | -1.7% |
| 2014 | 5.5% | -3.5% |
| 2015 | 5.2% | -5.5% |
| 2016 | 4.9% | -5.8% |
| 2017 | 4.8% | -2.0% |
| 2018 | 4.9% | +2.1% |
| 2019 | 5.1% | +4.1% |
| 2020 | 5.5% | +7.8% |
| 2021 | 5.8% | +5.5% |
| 2022 | 6.1% | +5.2% |
| 2023 | 6.3% | +3.3% |
| 2024 | 6.3% | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 6.2% | -1.6% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 6.2% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 3.4%, 1.8× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 6.2% is above the median for South Asia, which is 5.6%, 1.1× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 6.4% | 5.3% | 7.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.3% | 4.8% | 5.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.0% | 5.5% | 6.3% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More education data for Sri Lanka
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 155,543 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 0 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 224,799 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 214,300 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.54 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.58 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -2.89 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0715 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Sri Lanka?
- Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Sri Lanka was 6.2% 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 Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 7.6% in 2005.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.8% in 2017.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes?
- Sri Lanka ranks 82nd 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 Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is up 19.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sri Lanka 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.
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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