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.