Mauritania: Children out of school, primary

Key figures

What the numbers say

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 38% in 2016 and the biggest yearly fall was 16.8% in 2004. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

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

How it compares

In 2024, Mauritania had the 16th highest value of the 101 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Mauritania in the 2024 ranking

• Honduras — 13th of 101: 346,452
• Zimbabwe — 14th of 101: 332,314
• Brazil — 15th of 101: 316,818
• Ghana — 17th of 101: 235,313
• Guatemala — 18th of 101: 201,342
• Ukraine — 19th of 101: 193,775

What this measures

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

Limitations: 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.

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

All 28 values

Children out of school, primary in nearby economies

• Benin — 213,285 (2022)
• Botswana — 1,869 (2022)
• Burkina Faso — 1.36 million (2024)
• Burundi — 661,724 (2025)
• Cabo Verde — 24,851 (2022)
• Cameroon — 173,924 (2024)
• Chad — 855,041 (2024)
• Comoros — 21,743 (2024)
• Congo, Rep. — 171,125 (2023)
• Côte d'Ivoire — 650,800 (2024)
• Equatorial Guinea — 128,846 (2015)

More education data for Mauritania

• Primary school starting age (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 12 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 7 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 891,821 (2024)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 105.44% (2024)
• Primary education, teachers — 24,560 (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 106.94% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 103.97% (2024)
• Secondary education, general pupils

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Mauritania's children out of school, primary?

291,098 in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1985?

It is up 49.87% from 194,230 in 1985 (1.04% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 291,098 in 2024 and the lowest 132,521 in 2007.

How does Mauritania rank?

16th highest of 101 economies with data for 2024.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, 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..

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.PRM.UNER, 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.

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.