School life expectancy, primary and lower … life both sexes lower in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: School life expectancy, primary and lower … life both sexes lower was 13.07 years in 2024. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, both sexes in Sierra Leone, 2001–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
The most recent figure for school life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, both sexes in Sierra Leone is 13.07 years, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.5% on the previous year and up 46.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, both sexes in Sierra Leone peaked at 13.07 years in 2024 and was at its lowest, 5.33 years, in 2001.
Sierra Leone ranks 2nd of 200 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.
School life expectancy, primary and lower … life both sexes lower in Sierra Leone, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 5.33 years | — |
| 2007 | 9.94 years | +86.4% |
| 2011 | 8.66 years | -12.9% |
| 2012 | 8.95 years | +3.4% |
| 2013 | 8.95 years | -0.1% |
| 2015 | 9 years | +0.6% |
| 2016 | 9.26 years | +2.9% |
| 2017 | 9.43 years | +1.8% |
| 2018 | 8.59 years | -9.0% |
| 2019 | 11.14 years | +29.7% |
| 2020 | 11.02 years | -1.0% |
| 2021 | 12.22 years | +10.8% |
| 2022 | 13.01 years | +6.5% |
| 2023 | 12.75 years | -2.0% |
| 2024 | 13.07 years | +2.5% |
Sierra Leone compared with similar countries
- Sierra Leone's 13.07 years is above the median for low income countries, which is 6.72 years, 1.9× the median. (20 countries reporting)
- Sierra Leone's 13.07 years is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 8.5 years, 1.5× the median. (43 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where School life expectancy, primary and lower … life both sexes lower in Sierra Leone changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | +86.4% | 5.33 years | 9.94 years |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 7.63 years | 5.33 years | 9.94 years | 2 |
| 2010s | 9.25 years | 8.59 years | 11.14 years | 8 |
| 2020s | 12.42 years | 11.02 years | 13.07 years | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sierra Leone
- 1 Saint Kitts and Nevis 13.41 years compare
- 3 Monaco 11.96 years compare
- 4 Namibia 11.93 years compare
- 5 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 11.82 years compare
More education data for Sierra Leone
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 38,043 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 73,295 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 85,708 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 92,723 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.16 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.07 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 2.52 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0003 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.2393 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, both sexes in Sierra Leone?
- School life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, both sexes in Sierra Leone was 13.07 years in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, both sexes recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The highest recorded value was 13.07 years in 2024.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, both sexes recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.33 years in 2001.
- How does Sierra Leone rank for school life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, both sexes?
- Sierra Leone ranks 2nd out of 200 countries with data for 2024.
- Is school life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, both sexes rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
- Over the last ten years it is up 46.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sierra Leone data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of School life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, both sexes (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release