North America vs Sweden: School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes

North America
16.35 years
in 2019
Sweden
19.69 years
in 2018
North America rank
5th
Sweden rank
3rd

School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes over time

  • North America
  • Sweden
05101520197019942019

How they compare

Sweden currently reports 19.69 years against 16.35 years in North America, a difference of 3.34 years.

That makes Sweden's figure about 1.2 times North America's.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 48 shared years of data; in 1971 it was North America ahead.

North America ranks 5th and Sweden ranks 3rd of 45 groups.

Across the 5 decades both report, North America averaged higher in 3 and Sweden in 2.

Head to head by decade

Decade North America Sweden Difference Ahead
1970s 13.2 years 12.15 years 1.05 years North America
1980s 14.75 years 12.7 years 2.05 years North America
1990s 15.91 years 15.63 years 0.2764 years North America
2000s 15.64 years 16.97 years 1.33 years Sweden
2010s 16.15 years 17.82 years 1.66 years Sweden

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes, North America or Sweden?
Sweden, at 19.69 years against 16.35 years in North America as of 2018.
What is the difference in school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes between North America and Sweden?
3.34 years, with Sweden ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for North America and Sweden?
48 years are reported by both, from 1971 to 2018.
How do North America and Sweden rank globally for school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes?
North America ranks 5th and Sweden ranks 3rd of 45 groups.
Where does this data come from?
Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, 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

North America vs Sweden: School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes. Statizoid, drawing on Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Retrieved 09 September 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/compare/school-life-expectancy-primary-to-tertiary-both-sexes-years/north-america/sweden/

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 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://education.statizoid.com/compare/school-life-expectancy-primary-to-tertiary-both-sexes-years/north-america/sweden/">North America vs Sweden: School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes (years)
Unit
years
Source
Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
228 places, 7,038 data points, 1970–2019
Last refreshed

Expected years of schooling is the number of years a child of school entrance age is expected to spend at school, or university, including years spent on repetition. It is the sum of the age-specific enrolment ratios for primary, secondary, post-secondary non-tertiary and tertiary education.