Over-age students, primary in Lesotho
Lesotho: Over-age students, primary was 21.1% in 2017. ▼ Falling
Over-age students, primary in Lesotho, 1970–2017
Source: Stat Bulk Data Download Service, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in % of enrollment.
Analysis
The most recent figure for over-age students, primary in Lesotho is 21.1%, measured in 2017. That is the lowest value across all 46 years on record.
That represents a change of down 3.0% on the previous year and down 32.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, over-age students, primary in Lesotho peaked at 42.9% in 1999 and was at its lowest, 21.1%, in 2017.
Lesotho ranks 17th of 191 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 46 years of available data.
Over-age students, primary in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | % of enrollment | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 35.8% | — |
| 1971 | 32.6% | -8.9% |
| 1972 | 32.1% | -1.7% |
| 1973 | 34.0% | +6.0% |
| 1974 | 33.6% | -1.2% |
| 1976 | 25.5% | -24.0% |
| 1977 | 24.5% | -4.2% |
| 1978 | 35.0% | +43.3% |
| 1979 | 33.8% | -3.4% |
| 1980 | 34.4% | +1.7% |
| 1981 | 35.4% | +2.9% |
| 1982 | 34.0% | -4.0% |
| 1983 | 35.1% | +3.2% |
| 1984 | 34.0% | -3.2% |
| 1985 | 33.9% | -0.2% |
| 1986 | 33.4% | -1.3% |
| 1987 | 33.1% | -1.1% |
| 1988 | 33.2% | +0.4% |
| 1989 | 33.1% | -0.4% |
| 1990 | 33.3% | +0.5% |
| 1991 | 32.8% | -1.3% |
| 1992 | 31.9% | -2.7% |
| 1993 | 31.6% | -1.2% |
| 1994 | 33.4% | +5.8% |
| 1995 | 36.1% | +8.2% |
| 1996 | 34.8% | -3.7% |
| 1998 | 40.8% | +17.1% |
| 1999 | 42.9% | +5.3% |
| 2000 | 30.6% | -28.8% |
| 2001 | 30.8% | +0.8% |
| 2002 | 31.1% | +0.9% |
| 2003 | 32.3% | +3.9% |
| 2004 | 33.6% | +4.2% |
| 2005 | 33.5% | -0.6% |
| 2006 | 33.0% | -1.5% |
| 2007 | 31.1% | -5.7% |
| 2008 | 29.9% | -3.9% |
| 2009 | 28.7% | -4.0% |
| 2010 | 27.8% | -3.2% |
| 2011 | 26.4% | -5.1% |
| 2012 | 25.1% | -4.6% |
| 2013 | 24.9% | -1.0% |
| 2014 | 23.9% | -4.2% |
| 2015 | 22.6% | -5.2% |
| 2016 | 21.7% | -3.9% |
| 2017 | 21.1% | -3.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 31.9% | 24.5% | 35.8% | 9 |
| 1980s | 33.9% | 33.1% | 35.4% | 10 |
| 1990s | 35.3% | 31.6% | 42.9% | 9 |
| 2000s | 31.4% | 28.7% | 33.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 24.2% | 21.1% | 27.8% | 8 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
- 14 Eritrea 24.7% compare
- 15 Angola 23.2% compare
- 16 Equatorial Guinea 22.6% compare
- 18 Central African Republic 21.0% compare
- 19 Nicaragua 20.6% compare
- 20 Mauritania 20.3% compare
More education data for Lesotho
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 10,388 (2024)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 62.0% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 34.1% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 13 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- Primary secondary enrollment completion rates, gaps filled 80.18 (2024)
- School enrollment, primary 80.2% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is over-age students, primary in Lesotho?
- Over-age students, primary in Lesotho was 21.1% in 2017, according to Stat Bulk Data Download Service, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
- What is the highest over-age students, primary recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 42.9% in 1999.
- What is the lowest over-age students, primary recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 21.1% in 2017.
- How does Lesotho rank for over-age students, primary?
- Lesotho ranks 17th out of 191 countries with data for 2017.
- Is over-age students, primary rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is down 32.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from Stat Bulk Data Download Service, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as part of Over-age students, primary (% of enrollment). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 46 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Over-age students are the percentage of those enrolled who are older than the official school-age range for primary education.