Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Low & middle income

Low & middle income: Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes was 8.8% in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
8.8%
Change on year
down 0.5%
Rank
17th
of 45 groups
All-time high
32.3%
in 1971
All-time low
8.8%
in 2019
Years of data
50
1970–2019

Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Low & middle income, 1970–2019

1015202530197019942019

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2019, out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Low & middle income stood at 8.8%. That is the lowest value across all 50 years on record.

That represents a change of down 0.5% on the previous year and down 10.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Low & middle income peaked at 32.3% in 1971 and was at its lowest, 8.8%, in 2019.

That places Low & middle income 17th out of 45 groups with data for 2019, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 50 years of available data.

Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Low & middle income, year by year

Annual values for Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes (%) in Low & middle income, 1970 to 2019.
Year % Change
1970 32.3%
1971 32.3% +0.0%
1972 31.2% -3.5%
1973 28.5% -8.6%
1974 27.5% -3.5%
1975 26.1% -5.1%
1976 25.4% -2.7%
1977 25.4% -0.2%
1978 26.5% +4.7%
1979 26.1% -1.6%
1980 25.1% -3.8%
1981 24.1% -4.0%
1982 23.6% -2.0%
1983 23.2% -1.8%
1984 22.8% -1.7%
1985 22.0% -3.3%
1986 21.2% -3.7%
1987 21.0% -1.2%
1988 20.3% -3.4%
1989 19.5% -3.7%
1990 19.6% +0.3%
1991 19.2% -1.7%
1992 19.4% +1.0%
1993 19.2% -1.1%
1994 19.1% -0.7%
1995 19.4% +1.8%
1996 19.6% +0.8%
1997 19.3% -1.5%
1998 18.5% -3.9%
1999 17.4% -6.1%
2000 16.5% -5.2%
2001 16.0% -2.6%
2002 15.6% -2.8%
2003 14.0% -10.3%
2004 12.6% -9.9%
2005 11.8% -6.8%
2006 11.5% -2.5%
2007 9.9% -13.2%
2008 9.8% -1.6%
2009 9.9% +0.7%
2010 9.8% -0.6%
2011 9.7% -0.5%
2012 9.4% -3.4%
2013 9.0% -3.9%
2014 8.9% -1.3%
2015 9.1% +2.0%
2016 8.9% -2.0%
2017 8.8% -1.0%
2018 8.8% +0.1%
2019 8.8% -0.5%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 28.1% 25.4% 32.3% 10
1980s 22.3% 19.5% 25.1% 10
1990s 19.1% 17.4% 19.6% 10
2000s 12.7% 9.8% 16.5% 10
2010s 9.1% 8.8% 9.8% 10

Countries ranked near Low & middle income

  1. 14 Syria 27.6% compare
  2. 15 Guinea-Bissau 27.3% compare
  3. 16 Chad 26.2% compare
  4. 17 Marshall Islands 25.9% compare
  5. 18 Senegal 25.7% compare
  6. 19 Bahamas 23.5% compare
  7. 20 Mauritania 23.1% compare

See the full ranking of 233 places →

More education data for Low & middle income

All data for Low & middle income →

Frequently asked questions

What is out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Low & middle income?
Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Low & middle income was 8.8% in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes recorded in Low & middle income?
The highest recorded value was 32.3% in 1971.
What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes recorded in Low & middle income?
The lowest recorded value was 8.8% in 2019.
How does Low & middle income rank for out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes?
Low & middle income ranks 17th out of 45 groups with data for 2019.
Is out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes rising or falling in Low & middle income?
Over the last ten years it is down 10.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Low & middle income 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.

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Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes in Low & middle income. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 18 September 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/out-of-school-rate-for-children-of-primary-school-age-both-sexes-percent/low-and-middle-income/

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About this data

Indicator
Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, both sexes (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
233 places, 6,366 data points, 1970–2020
Last refreshed

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/