South Africa vs UNICEF: Eastern and Southern Africa: School life expectancy, primary, both sexes

South Africa
7.12 years
in 2023
UNICEF: Eastern and Southern Africa
6.2 years
in 2024
South Africa rank
25th
UNICEF: Eastern and Southern Africa rank
26th

School life expectancy, primary, both sexes over time

  • South Africa
  • UNICEF: Eastern and Southern Africa
02468197019972024

How they compare

South Africa currently reports 7.12 years against 6.2 years in UNICEF: Eastern and Southern Africa, a difference of 0.92 years.

That makes South Africa's figure about 1.1 times UNICEF: Eastern and Southern Africa's.

Across all 42 years both countries report, South Africa has been ahead every year.

South Africa ranks 25th and UNICEF: Eastern and Southern Africa ranks 26th of 218 countries.

South Africa has averaged higher in every one of the 6 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade South Africa UNICEF: Eastern and Southern Africa Difference Ahead
1970s 6.43 years 4.25 years 2.18 years South Africa
1980s 5.93 years 4.81 years 1.12 years South Africa
1990s 7.23 years 4.82 years 2.41 years South Africa
2000s 6.85 years 6.07 years 0.7842 years South Africa
2010s 7.25 years 6.5 years 0.7466 years South Africa
2020s 7.14 years 6.35 years 0.7942 years South Africa

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher school life expectancy, primary, both sexes, South Africa or UNICEF: Eastern and Southern Africa?
South Africa, at 7.12 years against 6.2 years in UNICEF: Eastern and Southern Africa as of 2023.
What is the difference in school life expectancy, primary, both sexes between South Africa and UNICEF: Eastern and Southern Africa?
0.92 years, with South Africa ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for South Africa and UNICEF: Eastern and Southern Africa?
42 years are reported by both, from 1970 to 2023.
How do South Africa and UNICEF: Eastern and Southern Africa rank globally for school life expectancy, primary, both sexes?
South Africa ranks 25th and UNICEF: Eastern and Southern Africa ranks 26th of 218 countries.
Where does this data come from?
UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as School life expectancy, primary, both sexes (years). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

South Africa vs UNICEF: Eastern and Southern Africa: School life expectancy, primary, both sexes. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 16 September 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/compare/school-life-expectancy-primary-both-sexes-years-2/south-africa/unicef-eastern-and-southern-africa/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://education.statizoid.com/compare/school-life-expectancy-primary-both-sexes-years-2/south-africa/unicef-eastern-and-southern-africa/">South Africa vs UNICEF: Eastern and Southern Africa: School life expectancy, primary, both sexes</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
School life expectancy, primary, both sexes (years)
Unit
years
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics)
Coverage
439 places, 17,962 data points, 1970–2025
Last refreshed

February 2026 Data Release