Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Lesotho
Lesotho: Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes was 2.4% in 2017. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Lesotho, 1970–2017
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Lesotho recorded 2.4% for out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in 2017. That is the lowest value across all 46 years on record.
That represents a change of down 54.4% on the previous year and down 83.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Lesotho peaked at 45.5% in 1999 and was at its lowest, 2.4%, in 2017.
Lesotho ranks 90th of 188 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 46 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 40.9% | — |
| 1971 | 44.7% | +9.3% |
| 1972 | 44.1% | -1.4% |
| 1973 | 43.8% | -0.7% |
| 1974 | 36.2% | -17.4% |
| 1976 | 35.8% | -1.1% |
| 1977 | 35.1% | -1.8% |
| 1978 | 41.6% | +18.4% |
| 1979 | 40.6% | -2.3% |
| 1980 | 40.5% | -0.2% |
| 1981 | 40.4% | -0.2% |
| 1982 | 36.6% | -9.5% |
| 1983 | 37.2% | +1.6% |
| 1984 | 36.4% | -2.1% |
| 1985 | 34.3% | -5.7% |
| 1986 | 34.6% | +0.8% |
| 1987 | 33.5% | -3.3% |
| 1988 | 32.7% | -2.3% |
| 1989 | 33.6% | +2.9% |
| 1990 | 34.9% | +3.8% |
| 1991 | 33.7% | -3.4% |
| 1992 | 33.7% | -0.2% |
| 1993 | 36.0% | +7.0% |
| 1994 | 35.1% | -2.5% |
| 1995 | 36.1% | +2.9% |
| 1996 | 35.9% | -0.6% |
| 1998 | 42.7% | +19.1% |
| 1999 | 45.5% | +6.5% |
| 2000 | 25.3% | -44.4% |
| 2001 | 23.5% | -7.2% |
| 2002 | 20.8% | -11.3% |
| 2003 | 18.1% | -13.1% |
| 2004 | 17.8% | -1.7% |
| 2005 | 15.9% | -10.6% |
| 2006 | 13.6% | -14.8% |
| 2007 | 15.1% | +11.6% |
| 2008 | 13.4% | -11.4% |
| 2009 | 12.8% | -4.7% |
| 2010 | 10.8% | -15.8% |
| 2011 | 10.6% | -1.8% |
| 2012 | 10.3% | -2.2% |
| 2013 | 9.4% | -9.6% |
| 2014 | 9.1% | -2.5% |
| 2015 | 7.6% | -16.5% |
| 2016 | 5.3% | -29.9% |
| 2017 | 2.4% | -54.4% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 2.4% is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 6.0%, 40% of the median. (45 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 2.4% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 13.4%, 18% of the median. (45 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Lesotho 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | -54.4% | 5.3% | 2.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 40.3% | 35.1% | 44.7% | 9 |
| 1980s | 36.0% | 32.7% | 40.5% | 10 |
| 1990s | 37.1% | 33.7% | 45.5% | 9 |
| 2000s | 17.6% | 12.8% | 25.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.2% | 2.4% | 10.8% | 8 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More education data for Lesotho
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 5,672 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 30,627 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 22,924 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 23,698 (2022)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 136,497 (2017)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 309,480 (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -0.8093 % 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 0.1324 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Lesotho?
- Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Lesotho was 2.4% in 2017, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 45.5% in 1999.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.4% in 2017.
- How does Lesotho rank for out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes?
- Lesotho ranks 90th out of 188 countries with data for 2017.
- Is out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is down 83.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Lesotho 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 (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 46 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
The number of students of the official age for primary education is subtracted from the total population of the same age. The result is expressed as a percentage of the population of the official age for primary education. For more information, consult the UNESCO Institute of Statistics website: http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/