New estimation confirms out-of-school population is growing in sub-Saharan Africa

It is estimated that 244 million children and youth between the ages of 6 and 18 worldwide were out of school in 2021. The results are based on a new, improved way of measuring, which combines administrative and survey data, following a similar approach to the one applied before in the estimation of flagship health indicators. The estimates confirm that, even before the onset of COVID-19, progress in reducing the out-of-school population had slowed down. At the same time, the results suggest a different distribution of this population by age group, while they fill gaps in the case of about 50 countries whose administrative data have been incomplete or lacking.

Resource Info

Resource Type

Policy Brief

Published

Published by

UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UNESCO-UIS)

Topic(s)

Out of School

Geographic Focus

Region: Central Africa
Region: East Africa
Region: Southern Africa
Region: West Africa