Children out of school — all countries

Children out of school — South Africa

Children out of school in South Africa in 2023 — 448,146 people. Ranked 131 in the world out of 148. Since 1970, the indicator has fallen by 65.1%.

2023 448,146 people +4.09% vs 2022
World rank 131of 148
Period maximum 1.49M people1998
Period minimum 288,480 people2021

Trend over time

1970–2023 · people

Children out of school — South Africa, 1970–20230500,0001M1.5M19701976198219881994200020062012201820231970: 1,284,725 people1991: 989,742 people1994: 1,283,843 people1995: 1,448,082 people1998: 1,491,871 people1999: 1,376,898 people2000: 1,430,587 people2001: 1,325,224 people2002: 1,180,313 people2003: 1,080,820 people2004: 1,013,763 people2005: 976,269 people2015: 676,716 people2017: 761,156 people2018: 701,278 people2019: 630,820 people2020: 620,737 people2021: 288,480 people2022: 430,540 people2023: 448,146 people
Change over the period: −836,579 (−65.12%) Average annual rate: -1.97 %

Comparison, 2023

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

South Africa 448,146 people
World computed 44.51M people
Southern Africa computed 569,248 people
Upper-middle-income countries computed 1.96M people
Children out of school — South Africa, by year South Africa All countries CSV XLSX
Year people Change Change, %
2023 448,146 +17,606 +4.09%
2022 430,540 +142,060 +49.24%
2021 288,480 −332,257 −53.53%
2020 620,737 −10,083 −1.6%
2019 630,820 −70,458 −10.05%
2018 701,278 −59,878 −7.87%
2017 761,156
2015 676,716
2005 976,269 −37,494 −3.7%
2004 1.01M −67,057 −6.2%
2003 1.08M −99,493 −8.43%
2002 1.18M −144,911 −10.93%
2001 1.33M −105,363 −7.37%
2000 1.43M +53,689 +3.9%
1999 1.38M −114,973 −7.71%
1998 1.49M
1995 1.45M +164,239 +12.79%
1994 1.28M
1991 989,742
1970 1.28M

Southern Africa, 2023

The same indicator for neighboring countries — with links to their pages

About the indicator

The number of children of primary school age who attend neither primary nor secondary school. The absolute count answers the question of the scale of the task rather than of the state of a country, and for that reason it diverges from the share: a large part of all out-of-school children in the world lives in a few big countries where the share is low, not in those where the share is high. Both numbers matter for planning, and together they produce different lists of priorities.

Important: Primary school age only. Adolescents who do not attend secondary school are not part of this series, although there are more of them.

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