Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, rural in Nigeria
Nigeria: Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, rural was 49.4% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, rural in Nigeria, 2003–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Nigeria recorded 49.4% for out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, rural in 2024. That is the highest value across all 10 years on record.
That represents a change of up 18.6% on the previous year and up 6.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, rural in Nigeria peaked at 49.4% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 32.9%, in 2011.
That places Nigeria 14th out of 68 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 10 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, rural in Nigeria, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 38.1% | — |
| 2007 | 42.1% | +10.7% |
| 2008 | 33.9% | -19.5% |
| 2011 | 32.9% | -2.8% |
| 2013 | 46.3% | +40.7% |
| 2016 | 48.7% | +5.1% |
| 2018 | 48.1% | -1.2% |
| 2019 | 39.3% | -18.2% |
| 2021 | 41.6% | +5.8% |
| 2024 | 49.4% | +18.6% |
Nigeria compared with similar countries
- Nigeria's 49.4% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 45.0%, 1.1× the median. (18 countries reporting)
- Nigeria's 49.4% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 49.4%, 1.0× the median. (21 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 38.0% | 33.9% | 42.1% | 3 |
| 2010s | 43.1% | 32.9% | 48.7% | 5 |
| 2020s | 45.5% | 41.6% | 49.4% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More education data for Nigeria
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 912,245 (2021)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 1.08 million (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 1.24 million (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 15.20 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 33.42 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 1.18 % change on previous year (2021)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1466 units per person (2023)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, rural in Nigeria?
- Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, rural in Nigeria was 49.4% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, rural recorded in Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 49.4% in 2024.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, rural recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 32.9% in 2011.
- How does Nigeria rank for out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, rural?
- Nigeria ranks 14th out of 68 countries with data for 2024.
- Is out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, rural rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Nigeria 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, rural, male (household survey data) (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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