Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary was 34.6% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Latest (2023)
34.6%
Change on year
down 8.1%
World rank
41st
of 175 countries
All-time high
37.7%
in 2021
All-time low
31.6%
in 2016
Years of data
6
2016–2023
Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Papua New Guinea, 2016–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Papua New Guinea recorded 34.6% for out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 8.1% on the previous year and up 9.6% over ten years.
That places Papua New Guinea 41st out of 175 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 31.6% | — |
| 2018 | 33.3% | +5.3% |
| 2019 | 33.6% | +0.9% |
| 2020 | 34.8% | +3.5% |
| 2021 | 37.7% | +8.5% |
| 2023 | 34.6% | -8.1% |
Papua New Guinea compared with similar countries
- Papua New Guinea's 34.6% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 34.0%, 1.0× the median. (36 countries reporting)
- Papua New Guinea's 34.6% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 14.6%, 2.4× the median. (26 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 32.8% | 31.6% | 33.6% | 3 |
| 2020s | 35.7% | 34.6% | 37.7% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
- 38 Ethiopia 38.7% compare
- 39 Timor-Leste 38.3% compare
- 40 Sierra Leone 34.9% compare
- 42 Liberia 34.4% compare
- 43 Sri Lanka 34.3% compare
- 44 Saudi Arabia 34.0% compare
More education data for Papua New Guinea
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 14,791 (2016)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 80,915 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 226,545 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 208,353 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 655,030 (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.65 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 10.31 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1593 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Papua New Guinea?
- Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Papua New Guinea was 34.6% 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 Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 37.7% in 2021.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 31.6% in 2016.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 41st out of 175 countries with data for 2023.
- Is out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea 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, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 6 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release