Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Iceland
Iceland: Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary was 3.1% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Iceland, 1998–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2023, out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Iceland stood at 3.1%.
That represents a change of up 4.0% on the previous year and down 29.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Iceland peaked at 11.3% in 1998 and was at its lowest, 1.7%, in 2012.
Iceland ranks 134th of 179 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 one year before the official primary in Iceland, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 11.3% | — |
| 1999 | 8.4% | -25.2% |
| 2000 | 7.2% | -13.9% |
| 2001 | 5.2% | -27.9% |
| 2002 | 6.3% | +21.0% |
| 2003 | 4.6% | -26.9% |
| 2004 | 4.1% | -10.4% |
| 2005 | 3.7% | -10.1% |
| 2006 | 3.4% | -8.7% |
| 2007 | 5.3% | +57.2% |
| 2008 | 3.2% | -39.2% |
| 2009 | 5.3% | +62.4% |
| 2010 | 4.8% | -9.3% |
| 2011 | 3.8% | -21.1% |
| 2012 | 1.7% | -55.7% |
| 2013 | 4.4% | +161.7% |
| 2014 | 3.3% | -24.6% |
| 2015 | 2.2% | -32.9% |
| 2016 | 2.4% | +7.0% |
| 2017 | 2.1% | -9.7% |
| 2018 | 2.4% | +11.8% |
| 2019 | 3.0% | +24.7% |
| 2020 | 3.4% | +13.9% |
| 2021 | 3.1% | -10.2% |
| 2022 | 3.0% | -2.6% |
| 2023 | 3.1% | +4.0% |
Iceland compared with similar countries
- Iceland's 3.1% is below the median for high income countries, which is 4.8%, 64% of the median. (70 countries reporting)
- Iceland's 3.1% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 2.8%, 1.1× the median. (50 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Iceland 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | +161.7% | 1.7% | 4.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 9.8% | 8.4% | 11.3% | 2 |
| 2000s | 4.9% | 3.2% | 7.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.0% | 1.7% | 4.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.1% | 3.0% | 3.4% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More education data for Iceland
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 0 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 6,661 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 6,167 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 37,056 (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 32,314 (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.17 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0838 units per person (2023)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Iceland?
- Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Iceland was 3.1% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 11.3% in 1998.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.7% in 2012.
- How does Iceland rank for out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary?
- Iceland ranks 134th out of 179 countries with data for 2023.
- Is out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 29.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Iceland data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary entry age, both sexes (%). 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