World - Children out of school, primary

The value for Children out of school, primary in World was 62,810,830 as of 2019. As the graph below shows, over the past 49 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 128,474,800 in 1971 and a minimum value of 57,690,860 in 2013.

Definition: Children out of school are the number of primary-school-age children not enrolled in primary or secondary school.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (http://uis.unesco.org/)

See also:

Year Value
1970 124,973,900
1971 128,474,800
1972 127,439,600
1973 119,880,700
1974 119,205,900
1975 115,883,000
1976 114,983,900
1977 117,273,000
1978 124,840,900
1979 124,774,700
1980 119,971,400
1981 116,490,000
1982 115,103,000
1983 114,488,600
1984 113,575,100
1985 110,186,800
1986 105,939,900
1987 104,804,800
1988 101,903,100
1989 99,220,070
1990 100,630,300
1991 101,054,200
1992 104,366,300
1993 105,458,500
1994 106,967,700
1995 110,881,000
1996 114,308,200
1997 115,151,000
1998 110,757,000
1999 104,193,200
2000 98,649,510
2001 94,902,440
2002 91,326,740
2003 81,943,140
2004 76,167,850
2005 70,860,980
2006 68,962,900
2007 60,453,450
2008 59,403,240
2009 60,533,600
2010 60,239,990
2011 60,561,620
2012 58,980,720
2013 57,690,860
2014 61,164,000
2015 63,193,860
2016 62,320,560
2017 62,812,340
2018 61,639,530
2019 62,810,830

Development Relevance: Large numbers of children out of school create pressure to enroll children and provide classrooms, teachers, and educational materials, a task made difficult in many countries by limited education budgets. However, getting children into school is a high priority for countries and crucial for achieving universal primary education.

Limitations and Exceptions: Due to different data sources for enrollment and population data, the number may not capture the actual number of children not attending in primary school.

Other Notes: Data retrieved via API in March 2019. For detailed information on the observation level (e.g. National Estimation, UIS Estimation, or Category not applicable), please visit UIS.Stat (http://data.uis.unesco.org/).

Statistical Concept and Methodology: The number of out-of-school children is calculated by subtracting the number of primary school-age children enrolled in primary or secondary school from the total population of the official primary school-age children. Data on education are collected by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics from official responses to its annual education survey. All the data are mapped to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) to ensure the comparability of education programs at the international level. The current version was formally adopted by UNESCO Member States in 2011. Population data are drawn from the United Nations Population Division. Using a single source for population data standardizes definitions, estimations, and interpolation methods, ensuring a consistent methodology across countries and minimizing potential enumeration problems in national censuses. The reference years reflect the school year for which the data are presented. In some countries the school year spans two calendar years (for example, from September 2010 to June 2011); in these cases the reference year refers to the year in which the school year ended (2011 in the example).

Aggregation method: Sum

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Education Indicators

Sub-Topic: Participation