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 34.3% 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
The most recent figure for out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Sri Lanka is 34.3%, measured in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 5.2% on the previous year and down 30.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Sri Lanka peaked at 50.1% in 2018 and was at its lowest, 32.6%, in 2022.
That places Sri Lanka 43rd out of 175 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
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 | 49.3% | — |
| 2015 | 36.7% | -25.4% |
| 2016 | 38.3% | +4.3% |
| 2017 | 46.3% | +20.7% |
| 2018 | 50.1% | +8.2% |
| 2019 | 48.0% | -4.0% |
| 2020 | 46.6% | -3.1% |
| 2021 | 33.0% | -29.2% |
| 2022 | 32.6% | -1.1% |
| 2023 | 34.3% | +5.2% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 34.3% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 13.1%, 2.6× the median. (52 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 34.3% is above the median for South Asia, which is 24.2%, 1.4× the median. (5 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 44.8% | 36.7% | 50.1% | 6 |
| 2020s | 36.6% | 32.6% | 46.6% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
- 40 Sierra Leone 34.9% compare
- 41 Papua New Guinea 34.6% compare
- 42 Liberia 34.4% compare
- 44 Saudi Arabia 34.0% compare
- 45 Gambia 33.4% compare
- 46 Togo 33.4% 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 34.3% 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 50.1% 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 32.6% in 2022.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary?
- Sri Lanka ranks 43rd 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 Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is down 30.4%. 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, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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