Share of children out of school — all countries

Share of children out of school — World

Share of children out of school in the world in 2023 — 8.88%. Since 2014, the indicator has risen by 0.2 pp.

2023 8.88% +1.87 pp vs 2022
World rank —
Period maximum 8.88%2023
Period minimum 4.81%2020

Trend over time

2014–2023 · % of primary school-age children

Share of children out of school — World, 2014–20234681020142015201620172018201920202021202220232014: 8.68%2015: 8.83%2016: 6.51%2017: 6.71%2020: 4.81%2021: 7.73%2022: 7.01%2023: 8.88%
Change over the period: +0.2 pp Annual average: 0.02 pp

Comparison, 2023

How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: World

World 8.88%
World computed 8.88%
Share of children out of school — World, by year World All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2023 8.88 +1.87 pp
2022 7.01 −0.72 pp
2021 7.73 +2.92 pp
2020 4.81 —
2017 6.71 +0.2 pp
2016 6.51 −2.32 pp
2015 8.83 +0.15 pp
2014 8.68 —

About the indicator

The share of children of primary school age not attending school. Unlike the absolute count, the indicator speaks to the state of the education system in a country, and it shows that the task does not reduce to poverty: at comparable income the shares differ severalfold, and the highest values come from countries where schooling is obstructed by conflict or by a nomadic way of life.

Important: The aggregate is weighted by the number of children aged 0–14: total population is the wrong weight here — the share of children differs fourfold across countries.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), license CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.