Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female in Lesotho
Lesotho: Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female was 29.7% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female in Lesotho, 2000–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female in Lesotho stood at 29.7%. That is the highest value across all 26 years on record.
That represents a change of up 4.6% on the previous year and up 130.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female in Lesotho peaked at 29.7% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 10.5%, in 2006.
That places Lesotho 20th out of 206 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 13.3% | — |
| 2001 | 12.3% | -7.5% |
| 2002 | 11.5% | -6.5% |
| 2003 | 10.9% | -5.2% |
| 2004 | 10.7% | -1.8% |
| 2005 | 10.6% | -0.9% |
| 2006 | 10.5% | -0.9% |
| 2007 | 10.5% | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 10.7% | +1.9% |
| 2009 | 11.1% | +3.7% |
| 2010 | 11.4% | +2.7% |
| 2011 | 11.4% | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 11.5% | +0.9% |
| 2013 | 11.8% | +2.6% |
| 2014 | 12.3% | +4.2% |
| 2015 | 12.9% | +4.9% |
| 2016 | 13.5% | +4.7% |
| 2017 | 14.3% | +5.9% |
| 2018 | 15.7% | +9.8% |
| 2019 | 17.6% | +12.1% |
| 2020 | 19.8% | +12.5% |
| 2021 | 22.2% | +12.1% |
| 2022 | 24.4% | +9.9% |
| 2023 | 26.6% | +9.0% |
| 2024 | 28.4% | +6.8% |
| 2025 | 29.7% | +4.6% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 29.7% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 10.0%, 3.0× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 29.7% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 18.2%, 1.6× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 11.2% | 10.5% | 13.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 13.2% | 11.4% | 17.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 25.2% | 19.8% | 29.7% | 6 |
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, female in Lesotho?
- Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female in Lesotho was 29.7% in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 29.7% in 2025.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 10.5% in 2006.
- How does Lesotho rank for out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female?
- Lesotho ranks 20th out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
- Is out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 130.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- 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, female (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