Kuwait: Adolescents out of school (% of lower secondary school age)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2021, Kuwait's adolescents out of school (% of lower secondary school age) rose 9.62 percentage points on 2020 (from 13.32% to 22.93%).

Across the 17 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2020), the average change was −0.01 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.69 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 3.6 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 9.62 percentage points in 2021 and the biggest yearly fall was 4.15 percentage points in 2000. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2012 to 2021 the straight-line trend is upward, about 1.73 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 88% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

Closest to Kuwait in the 2021 ranking

• Liechtenstein — 2nd of 2: 2.94%

What this measures

Adolescents out of school are the percentage of lower secondary school age adolescents who are not enrolled in school.

Limitations: The administrative data used in the calculation of the rate of out-of-school children are based on enrolment at a specific date which can bias the results by either counting enrolled children who never attend school or by omitting those who enroll after the reference date for reporting enrolment data. Furthermore, children who drop out of school after the reference date are not counted as out of school. Discrepancies between enrolment and population data from different sources can also result in over- or underestimates of the rate.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 27 values

Adolescents out of school (% of lower secondary school age) in nearby economies

• Algeria — 77.57% (2025)
• Bahrain — 2.68% (2024)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 6.64% (2024)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 7.58% (2023)
• Israel — 2.15% (2024)
• Jordan — 1.97% (2024)
• Lebanon — 32.49% (2024)
• Malta — 1.88% (2023)
• Morocco — 2.31% (2024)

More education data for Kuwait

• Primary school starting age (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 5 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 11 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 7 (2025)
• School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1.15 (2021)
• Primary education, pupils — 265,113 (2021)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 82.36% (2021)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 88.67% (2021)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 77.02% (2021)
• Primary education, teachers — 32,782 (2021)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Kuwait's adolescents out of school (% of lower secondary school age)?

22.93% in 2021, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1971?

It is down 8.57 percentage points from 31.5% in 1971. The highest value was 37.97% in 1992 and the lowest 1.19% in 1997.

Is the latest change in adolescents out of school (% of lower secondary school age) unusual for Kuwait?

In 2021, Kuwait's adolescents out of school (% of lower secondary school age) rose 9.62 percentage points on 2020 (from 13.32% to 22.93%). Across the 17 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2020), the average change was −0.01 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.69 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 3.6 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.SEC.UNER.LO.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: https://databrowser.uis.unesco.org/resources, note: The data are obtained through the UIS API. Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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