Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in New Zealand
New Zealand: Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary was 14.3% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in New Zealand, 2014–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
New Zealand recorded 14.3% for out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in 2024.
The figure is down 10.2% on the previous year and up 75.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in New Zealand peaked at 19.2% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 5.0%, in 2017.
New Zealand ranks 88th of 179 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 11 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in New Zealand, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 8.1% | — |
| 2015 | 5.7% | -30.1% |
| 2016 | 7.7% | +35.4% |
| 2017 | 5.0% | -34.9% |
| 2018 | 7.1% | +42.0% |
| 2019 | 11.4% | +60.3% |
| 2020 | 13.1% | +14.7% |
| 2021 | 13.1% | +0.5% |
| 2022 | 19.2% | +46.5% |
| 2023 | 15.9% | -17.3% |
| 2024 | 14.3% | -10.2% |
New Zealand compared with similar countries
- New Zealand's 14.3% is above the median for high income countries, which is 4.8%, 3.0× the median. (70 countries reporting)
- New Zealand's 14.3% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 13.0%, 1.1× the median. (28 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 7.5% | 5.0% | 11.4% | 6 |
| 2020s | 15.1% | 13.1% | 19.2% | 5 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
- 85 El Salvador 15.4% compare
- 86 Nicaragua 14.9% compare
- 87 Malaysia 14.6% compare
- 89 Seychelles 13.9% compare
- 90 United States 13.5% compare
- 91 Suriname 13.5% compare
More education data for New Zealand
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 36,426 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 12,020 (1992)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 56,552 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 53,804 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 562,417 (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 383,018 (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 1.15 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0724 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in New Zealand?
- Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in New Zealand was 14.3% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 19.2% in 2022.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.0% in 2017.
- How does New Zealand rank for out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary?
- New Zealand ranks 88th out of 179 countries with data for 2024.
- Is out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is up 75.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this New Zealand 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 — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release