Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female in Lesotho
Lesotho: Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female was 53.7% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female in Lesotho, 1972–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Lesotho recorded 53.7% for out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female in 2024.
The figure is down 3.5% on the previous year and up 56.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female in Lesotho peaked at 75.7% in 1972 and was at its lowest, 29.1%, in 2012.
That places Lesotho 28th out of 179 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 44 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 75.7% | — |
| 1973 | 69.2% | -8.5% |
| 1977 | 72.2% | +4.3% |
| 1978 | 55.7% | -23.0% |
| 1979 | 53.2% | -4.3% |
| 1980 | 45.8% | -13.9% |
| 1981 | 39.6% | -13.7% |
| 1982 | 40.3% | +1.8% |
| 1983 | 43.8% | +8.8% |
| 1984 | 40.1% | -8.6% |
| 1985 | 40.4% | +0.9% |
| 1986 | 37.7% | -6.6% |
| 1991 | 37.6% | -0.2% |
| 1992 | 43.8% | +16.4% |
| 1993 | 47.4% | +8.3% |
| 1994 | 44.2% | -6.9% |
| 1996 | 41.7% | -5.5% |
| 1998 | 35.3% | -15.3% |
| 1999 | 32.7% | -7.5% |
| 2000 | 49.4% | +51.0% |
| 2001 | 48.7% | -1.3% |
| 2002 | 47.7% | -2.1% |
| 2003 | 44.8% | -6.1% |
| 2004 | 39.5% | -11.7% |
| 2005 | 39.2% | -0.9% |
| 2006 | 38.0% | -3.0% |
| 2007 | 39.5% | +3.9% |
| 2008 | 37.7% | -4.4% |
| 2009 | 35.9% | -4.8% |
| 2010 | 30.0% | -16.4% |
| 2011 | 29.3% | -2.5% |
| 2012 | 29.1% | -0.6% |
| 2013 | 34.4% | +18.3% |
| 2014 | 34.4% | -0.2% |
| 2015 | 30.6% | -11.0% |
| 2016 | 31.2% | +2.0% |
| 2017 | 32.1% | +2.9% |
| 2018 | 39.2% | +22.1% |
| 2019 | 44.4% | +13.4% |
| 2020 | 48.5% | +9.1% |
| 2021 | 47.9% | -1.1% |
| 2022 | 47.8% | -0.3% |
| 2023 | 55.7% | +16.5% |
| 2024 | 53.7% | -3.5% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 53.7% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 40.0%, 1.3× the median. (39 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 53.7% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 53.7%, 1.0× the median. (35 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female in Lesotho changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | +51.0% | 32.7% | 49.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 65.2% | 53.2% | 75.7% | 5 |
| 1980s | 41.1% | 37.7% | 45.8% | 7 |
| 1990s | 40.4% | 32.7% | 47.4% | 7 |
| 2000s | 42.0% | 35.9% | 49.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 33.5% | 29.1% | 44.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 50.7% | 47.8% | 55.7% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More education data for Lesotho
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 5,672 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 30,627 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 22,924 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 23,698 (2022)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 136,497 (2017)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 309,480 (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -0.8093 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1324 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female in Lesotho?
- Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female in Lesotho was 53.7% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 75.7% in 1972.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 29.1% in 2012.
- How does Lesotho rank for out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female?
- Lesotho ranks 28th out of 179 countries with data for 2024.
- Is out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, female rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 56.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Lesotho 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 (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 44 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release