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 33.8% 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 33.8% 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 12.1% on the previous year and down 37.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Sri Lanka peaked at 53.8% in 2013 and was at its lowest, 33.8%, in 2023.
Sri Lanka ranks 47th of 175 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 | 53.8% | — |
| 2015 | 44.2% | -17.8% |
| 2016 | 40.7% | -8.0% |
| 2017 | 52.4% | +28.9% |
| 2018 | 53.3% | +1.6% |
| 2019 | 51.4% | -3.5% |
| 2020 | 49.7% | -3.2% |
| 2021 | 42.2% | -15.2% |
| 2022 | 38.5% | -8.7% |
| 2023 | 33.8% | -12.1% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 33.8% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 15.3%, 2.2× the median. (52 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 33.8% is above the median for South Asia, which is 22.7%, 1.5× the median. (5 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 49.3% | 40.7% | 53.8% | 6 |
| 2020s | 41.1% | 33.8% | 49.7% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
- 44 Lao People's Democratic Republic 35.2% compare
- 45 Liberia 35.2% compare
- 46 Papua New Guinea 34.7% compare
- 48 Togo 33.7% compare
- 49 Tanzania, United Republic of 32.9% compare
- 50 Palestine, State of 32.7% 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 33.8% 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 53.8% in 2013.
- 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 33.8% in 2023.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary?
- Sri Lanka ranks 47th 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 37.1%. 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, male (%). 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