Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone: Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban was 18.5% in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
18.5%
Change on year
down 27.5%
World rank
17th
of 38 countries
All-time high
27.5%
in 2008
All-time low
18.5%
in 2019
Years of data
5
2008–2019

Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban in Sierra Leone, 2008–2019

01020302008201320192008: 27.5 %2010: 21.5 %2013: 22.7 %2017: 25.5 %2019: 18.5 %

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2019, out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban in Sierra Leone stood at 18.5%. That is the lowest value across all 5 years on record.

That represents a change of down 27.5% on the previous year and down 32.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban in Sierra Leone peaked at 27.5% in 2008 and was at its lowest, 18.5%, in 2019.

That places Sierra Leone 17th out of 38 countries with data for 2019, putting it in the middle of the range.

Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban in Sierra Leone, year by year

Annual values for Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban, fourth quintile, both sexes (household survey data) (%) in Sierra Leone, 2008 to 2019.
Year % Change
2008 27.5%
2010 21.5% -21.9%
2013 22.7% +5.3%
2017 25.5% +12.7%
2019 18.5% -27.5%

Sierra Leone compared with similar countries

  • Sierra Leone's 18.5% is below the median for low income countries, which is 38.2%, 48% of the median. (7 countries reporting)
  • Sierra Leone's 18.5% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 42.1%, 44% of the median. (16 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 27.5% 27.5% 27.5% 1
2010s 22.1% 18.5% 25.5% 4

Countries ranked near Sierra Leone

  1. 14 Cameroon 30.2% compare
  2. 15 Kyrgyzstan 19.8% compare
  3. 16 Ghana 19.4% compare
  4. 18 Nigeria 16.8% compare
  5. 19 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 16.7% compare
  6. 20 Mexico 15.8% compare

See the full ranking of 38 places →

More education data for Sierra Leone

All data for Sierra Leone →

Frequently asked questions

What is out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban in Sierra Leone?
Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban in Sierra Leone was 18.5% in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban recorded in Sierra Leone?
The highest recorded value was 27.5% in 2008.
What is the lowest out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban recorded in Sierra Leone?
The lowest recorded value was 18.5% in 2019.
How does Sierra Leone rank for out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban?
Sierra Leone ranks 17th out of 38 countries with data for 2019.
Is out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
Over the last ten years it is down 32.8%. 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, urban, fourth quintile, both sexes (household survey data) (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban in Sierra Leone. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 14 September 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/out-of-school-rate-for-youth-of-upper-secondary-school-age-urban-fourth-quintile-both-2/sierra-leone/

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About this data

Indicator
Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban, fourth quintile, both sexes (household survey data) (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics)
Coverage
38 places, 427 data points, 2000–2024
Last refreshed

February 2026 Data Release