Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in China
China: Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both was 17.0% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in China, 2000–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in China stood at 17.0%.
The figure is up 1.8% on the previous year and up 1.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in China peaked at 49.5% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 10.0%, in 2019.
That places China 106th out of 206 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in China, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 49.5% | — |
| 2001 | 42.8% | -13.5% |
| 2002 | 35.8% | -16.4% |
| 2003 | 29.6% | -17.3% |
| 2004 | 25.4% | -14.2% |
| 2005 | 22.1% | -13.0% |
| 2006 | 20.2% | -8.6% |
| 2007 | 20.1% | -0.5% |
| 2008 | 21.3% | +6.0% |
| 2009 | 23.2% | +8.9% |
| 2010 | 24.5% | +5.6% |
| 2011 | 23.9% | -2.4% |
| 2012 | 23.3% | -2.5% |
| 2013 | 22.4% | -3.9% |
| 2014 | 20.2% | -9.8% |
| 2015 | 16.7% | -17.3% |
| 2016 | 13.4% | -19.8% |
| 2017 | 11.6% | -13.4% |
| 2018 | 10.6% | -8.6% |
| 2019 | 10.0% | -5.7% |
| 2020 | 10.2% | +2.0% |
| 2021 | 11.4% | +11.8% |
| 2022 | 13.3% | +16.7% |
| 2023 | 15.3% | +15.0% |
| 2024 | 16.7% | +9.2% |
| 2025 | 17.0% | +1.8% |
China compared with similar countries
- China's 17.0% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 16.9%, 1.0× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- China's 17.0% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 21.0%, 81% of the median. (32 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 29.0% | 20.1% | 49.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 17.7% | 10.0% | 24.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 14.0% | 10.2% | 17.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near China
More education data for China
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 7.41 million (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 7,020 (2021)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 21.58 million (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 19.36 million (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 97.98 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 108.57 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 0.9587 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0771 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in China?
- Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in China was 17.0% in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both recorded in China?
- The highest recorded value was 49.5% in 2000.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 10.0% in 2019.
- How does China rank for out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both?
- China ranks 106th out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
- Is out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this China data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both sexes (modelled data) (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release