Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both sexes in SDG: Northern Africa and Western Asia
SDG: Northern Africa and Western Asia: Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both sexes was 25.9% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both sexes in SDG: Northern Africa and Western Asia, 2000–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both sexes in SDG: Northern Africa and Western Asia stood at 25.9%. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 4.4% on the previous year and down 25.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both sexes in SDG: Northern Africa and Western Asia peaked at 47.1% in 2007 and was at its lowest, 25.9%, in 2025.
That places SDG: Northern Africa and Western Asia 25th out of 39 groups 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 sexes in SDG: Northern Africa and Western Asia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 46.9% | — |
| 2001 | 46.4% | -1.1% |
| 2002 | 45.7% | -1.5% |
| 2003 | 45.0% | -1.5% |
| 2004 | 44.5% | -1.1% |
| 2005 | 45.9% | +3.1% |
| 2006 | 45.9% | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 47.1% | +2.6% |
| 2008 | 46.4% | -1.5% |
| 2009 | 43.4% | -6.5% |
| 2010 | 41.4% | -4.6% |
| 2011 | 39.2% | -5.3% |
| 2012 | 37.3% | -4.8% |
| 2013 | 35.9% | -3.8% |
| 2014 | 35.2% | -1.9% |
| 2015 | 34.8% | -1.1% |
| 2016 | 34.3% | -1.4% |
| 2017 | 33.6% | -2.0% |
| 2018 | 32.8% | -2.4% |
| 2019 | 31.9% | -2.7% |
| 2020 | 31.4% | -1.6% |
| 2021 | 30.3% | -3.5% |
| 2022 | 29.1% | -4.0% |
| 2023 | 28.2% | -3.1% |
| 2024 | 27.1% | -3.9% |
| 2025 | 25.9% | -4.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 45.7% | 43.4% | 47.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 35.6% | 31.9% | 41.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 28.7% | 25.9% | 31.4% | 6 |
Countries ranked near SDG: Northern Africa and Western Asia
More education data for SDG: Northern Africa and Western Asia
- Enrolment in primary education, male (number), gaps filled 32.09 million (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, both sexes (number), annual 0.2663 % change on previous year (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 4.45 million (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 9.09 million (2024)
- Enrolment in primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 61.67 million (2024)
- Enrolment in primary education, both sexes (number), annual growth 0.5703 % change on previous year (2024)
- Enrolment in primary education, female (number), gaps filled 29.58 million (2024)
- Enrolment in primary education, female (number), annual growth rate 0.7875 % change on previous year (2024)
- Enrolment in secondary education, male (number), annual growth rate 1.19 % change on previous year (2024)
- Enrolment in secondary education, female (number), gaps filled 26.40 million (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both sexes in SDG: Northern Africa and Western Asia?
- Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both sexes in SDG: Northern Africa and Western Asia was 25.9% in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both sexes recorded in SDG: Northern Africa and Western Asia?
- The highest recorded value was 47.1% in 2007.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both sexes recorded in SDG: Northern Africa and Western Asia?
- The lowest recorded value was 25.9% in 2025.
- How does SDG: Northern Africa and Western Asia rank for out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both sexes?
- SDG: Northern Africa and Western Asia ranks 25th out of 39 groups with data for 2025.
- Is out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both sexes rising or falling in SDG: Northern Africa and Western Asia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 25.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this SDG: Northern Africa and Western Asia 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 (%). 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