Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary was 34.1% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Sri Lanka, 2013–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Sri Lanka recorded 34.1% for out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 10 years on record.
The figure is down 4.4% on the previous year and down 33.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Sri Lanka peaked at 51.7% in 2018 and was at its lowest, 34.1%, in 2023.
Sri Lanka ranks 48th of 179 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 10 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 51.5% | — |
| 2015 | 40.5% | -21.3% |
| 2016 | 39.5% | -2.5% |
| 2017 | 49.4% | +25.1% |
| 2018 | 51.7% | +4.6% |
| 2019 | 49.7% | -3.8% |
| 2020 | 48.2% | -3.1% |
| 2021 | 37.7% | -21.9% |
| 2022 | 35.6% | -5.4% |
| 2023 | 34.1% | -4.4% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 34.1% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 14.6%, 2.3× the median. (53 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 34.1% is above the median for South Asia, which is 20.0%, 1.7× the median. (5 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 47.1% | 39.5% | 51.7% | 6 |
| 2020s | 38.9% | 34.1% | 48.2% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
- 45 British Virgin Islands 34.3% compare
- 46 Madagascar 34.1% compare
- 47 Lao People's Democratic Republic 34.1% compare
- 49 Togo 33.5% compare
- 50 Tanzania, United Republic of 32.0% compare
- 51 Palestine, State of 31.4% compare
More education data for Sri Lanka
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 155,543 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 0 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 224,799 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 214,300 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.54 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.58 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -2.89 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0715 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Sri Lanka?
- Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Sri Lanka was 34.1% 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 Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 51.7% in 2018.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 34.1% in 2023.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary?
- Sri Lanka ranks 48th 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 Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is down 33.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sri Lanka 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.
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CSV · JSON — 10 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release