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 14.4% 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
The most recent figure for out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in New Zealand is 14.4%, measured in 2024.
That represents a change of down 11.5% on the previous year and up 63.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in New Zealand peaked at 19.5% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 5.0%, in 2017.
New Zealand ranks 86th of 175 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 | 8.8% | — |
| 2015 | 5.5% | -37.1% |
| 2016 | 7.7% | +38.5% |
| 2017 | 5.0% | -34.3% |
| 2018 | 7.2% | +42.1% |
| 2019 | 11.3% | +57.3% |
| 2020 | 12.8% | +13.4% |
| 2021 | 13.1% | +2.3% |
| 2022 | 19.5% | +48.9% |
| 2023 | 16.3% | -16.4% |
| 2024 | 14.4% | -11.5% |
New Zealand compared with similar countries
- New Zealand's 14.4% is above the median for high income countries, which is 4.7%, 3.1× the median. (68 countries reporting)
- New Zealand's 14.4% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 14.4%, 1.0× the median. (26 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 7.6% | 5.0% | 11.3% | 6 |
| 2020s | 15.2% | 12.8% | 19.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
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 14.4% 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 19.5% 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 86th out of 175 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 63.7%. 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, male (%). 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