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Out of school, lower–upper secondary (2025)

10/237 countries

Percentage of lower and upper secondary school-age children not attending school

Global17.2%Year-over-year-16.93%5-year change+82.88%
1998
2025
2025

Rankings at a glance

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Top 10 · Percentage of lower and upper secondary school-age children not attending school (2025)

Tokelau tops the global rankings for percentage of lower and upper secondary school-age children not attending school, recording 65.76% in 2025, followed by Algeria (54.94%) and Laos (48.8%). The Gambia (27.83%) and Indonesia (14.74%) complete the top 5. Kyrgyzstan (10.7%) and Thailand (10.07%) follow close behind. Nepal (8.21%), Nauru (5.53%), and Uzbekistan (2.08%) round out the top ten. The spread across the top ten is substantial: Tokelau has 32× the figure recorded by Uzbekistan (2.08%). Six of the top ten are in Asia, with three from South-Eastern Asia. Among these countries, Uzbekistan saw the largest year-over-year change at -43.8%.

Rank changes

How percentage of lower and upper secondary school-age children not attending school changed between 2020 and 2025

2020and2025

All countries

Frequently asked questions

Which country has the lowest percentage of lower and upper secondary school-age children not attending school?
Uzbekistan has the lowest percentage of lower and upper secondary school-age children not attending school at 2.1% as of 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Which country has the highest percentage of lower and upper secondary school-age children not attending school?
Tokelau has the highest percentage of lower and upper secondary school-age children not attending school at 65.8% as of 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the global percentage of lower and upper secondary school-age children not attending school?
Weighted by population, the global percentage of lower and upper secondary school-age children not attending school is 17.2% as of 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

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