School life expectancy, primary, adjusted gender parity index in South Africa
South Africa: School life expectancy, primary, adjusted gender parity index was 0.9523 GPIA in 2023. ▼ Falling
Latest (2023)
0.9523 GPIA
Change on year
up 0.3%
World rank
183rd
of 215 countries
All-time high
1.02 GPIA
in 1989
All-time low
0.9414 GPIA
in 2015
Years of data
36
1970–2023
School life expectancy, primary, adjusted gender parity index in South Africa, 1970–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in GPIA.
Analysis
The most recent figure for school life expectancy, primary, adjusted gender parity index in South Africa is 0.9523 GPIA, measured in 2023.
The figure is up 0.3% on the previous year and down 1.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary, adjusted gender parity index in South Africa peaked at 1.02 GPIA in 1989 and was at its lowest, 0.9414 GPIA, in 2015.
That places South Africa 183rd out of 215 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 36 years of available data.
School life expectancy, primary, adjusted gender parity index in South Africa, year by year
| Year | GPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 1.01 GPIA | — |
| 1986 | 1.01 GPIA | -0.3% |
| 1987 | 1.01 GPIA | -0.1% |
| 1988 | 1.01 GPIA | -0.0% |
| 1989 | 1.02 GPIA | +1.2% |
| 1990 | 1.02 GPIA | -0.0% |
| 1991 | 1.01 GPIA | -0.5% |
| 1994 | 0.9796 GPIA | -3.3% |
| 1995 | 0.9926 GPIA | +1.3% |
| 1997 | 0.9922 GPIA | -0.0% |
| 1998 | 0.9881 GPIA | -0.4% |
| 1999 | 0.9877 GPIA | -0.0% |
| 2000 | 0.9684 GPIA | -2.0% |
| 2001 | 0.9825 GPIA | +1.5% |
| 2002 | 0.9862 GPIA | +0.4% |
| 2003 | 0.9835 GPIA | -0.3% |
| 2004 | 0.9795 GPIA | -0.4% |
| 2005 | 0.9802 GPIA | +0.1% |
| 2006 | 0.9765 GPIA | -0.4% |
| 2007 | 0.982 GPIA | +0.6% |
| 2008 | 0.9826 GPIA | +0.1% |
| 2009 | 0.9796 GPIA | -0.3% |
| 2010 | 0.9761 GPIA | -0.4% |
| 2011 | 0.9737 GPIA | -0.2% |
| 2012 | 0.9723 GPIA | -0.1% |
| 2013 | 0.9709 GPIA | -0.1% |
| 2014 | 0.9729 GPIA | +0.2% |
| 2015 | 0.9414 GPIA | -3.2% |
| 2016 | 0.9748 GPIA | +3.5% |
| 2017 | 0.9689 GPIA | -0.6% |
| 2018 | 0.9595 GPIA | -1.0% |
| 2019 | 0.9599 GPIA | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.9512 GPIA | -0.9% |
| 2021 | 0.9523 GPIA | +0.1% |
| 2022 | 0.9491 GPIA | -0.3% |
| 2023 | 0.9523 GPIA | +0.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1.01 GPIA | 1.01 GPIA | 1.01 GPIA | 1 |
| 1980s | 1.01 GPIA | 1.01 GPIA | 1.02 GPIA | 4 |
| 1990s | 0.996 GPIA | 0.9796 GPIA | 1.02 GPIA | 7 |
| 2000s | 0.9801 GPIA | 0.9684 GPIA | 0.9862 GPIA | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.967 GPIA | 0.9414 GPIA | 0.9761 GPIA | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.9512 GPIA | 0.9491 GPIA | 0.9523 GPIA | 4 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More education data for South Africa
- Enrolment in secondary education, male (number), gaps filled 2.68 million (2023)
- Enrolment in secondary education, male (number), annual growth rate 2.97 % change on previous year (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 818,404 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, both sexes (number), annual 3.28 % change on previous year (2023)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, both sexes (number) 1.19 million (2023)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, both sexes (number) -2.55 % change on previous year (2023)
- Teachers in primary education, female (number), gaps filled 225,583 (2023)
- Teachers in primary education, male (number), gaps filled 61,727 (2023)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female (number) 748,573 (2023)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female (number) -1.43 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary, adjusted gender parity index in South Africa?
- School life expectancy, primary, adjusted gender parity index in South Africa was 0.9523 GPIA in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, primary, adjusted gender parity index recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 1.02 GPIA in 1989.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary, adjusted gender parity index recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.9414 GPIA in 2015.
- How does South Africa rank for school life expectancy, primary, adjusted gender parity index?
- South Africa ranks 183rd out of 215 countries with data for 2023.
- Is school life expectancy, primary, adjusted gender parity index rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of School life expectancy, primary, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 36 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release