Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female was 20.8% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female in Sierra Leone, 2000–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female in Sierra Leone stood at 20.8%. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.
The figure is down 16.8% on the previous year and down 65.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female in Sierra Leone peaked at 64.9% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 20.8%, in 2025.
That places Sierra Leone 80th 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, female in Sierra Leone, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 64.9% | — |
| 2001 | 64.1% | -1.2% |
| 2002 | 63.4% | -1.1% |
| 2003 | 63.3% | -0.2% |
| 2004 | 63.6% | +0.5% |
| 2005 | 64.2% | +0.9% |
| 2006 | 64.1% | -0.2% |
| 2007 | 62.8% | -2.0% |
| 2008 | 60.7% | -3.3% |
| 2009 | 58.9% | -3.0% |
| 2010 | 57.8% | -1.9% |
| 2011 | 56.9% | -1.6% |
| 2012 | 56.1% | -1.4% |
| 2013 | 60.3% | +7.5% |
| 2014 | 60.5% | +0.3% |
| 2015 | 60.4% | -0.2% |
| 2016 | 58.8% | -2.6% |
| 2017 | 56.4% | -4.1% |
| 2018 | 52.9% | -6.2% |
| 2019 | 48.9% | -7.6% |
| 2020 | 44.9% | -8.2% |
| 2021 | 39.8% | -11.4% |
| 2022 | 34.9% | -12.3% |
| 2023 | 30.0% | -14.0% |
| 2024 | 25.0% | -16.7% |
| 2025 | 20.8% | -16.8% |
Sierra Leone compared with similar countries
- Sierra Leone's 20.8% is below the median for low income countries, which is 65.7%, 32% of the median. (24 countries reporting)
- Sierra Leone's 20.8% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 51.9%, 40% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 63.0% | 58.9% | 64.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 56.9% | 48.9% | 60.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 32.6% | 20.8% | 44.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sierra Leone
More education data for Sierra Leone
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 38,043 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 73,295 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 85,708 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 92,723 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.16 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.07 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 2.52 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0003 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.2393 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female in Sierra Leone?
- Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female in Sierra Leone was 20.8% in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The highest recorded value was 64.9% in 2000.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The lowest recorded value was 20.8% in 2025.
- How does Sierra Leone rank for out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female?
- Sierra Leone ranks 80th out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
- Is out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
- Over the last ten years it is down 65.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sierra Leone 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, female (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