School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Afghanistan

Afghanistan: School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes was 9.58 years in 2018. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2018)
9.58 years
Change on year
up 2.3%
World rank
162nd
of 197 countries
All-time high
9.58 years
in 2018
All-time low
1.67 years
in 1982
Years of data
39
1970–2018

School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Afghanistan, 1970–2018

2468101970199420181970: 2.4 years1971: 2.5 years1972: 2.6 years1973: 2.6 years1974: 2.7 years1975: 2.7 years1976: 2.9 years1977: 3 years1978: 3.1 years1980: 3.7 years1981: 4 years1982: 1.7 years1984: 2.1 years1985: 2.2 years1986: 2.3 years1988: 2.7 years1989: 2.6 years1990: 2.4 years1991: 2.6 years1993: 2.7 years1994: 3.7 years1995: 3.8 years2001: 2 years2003: 6.4 years2004: 7.3 years2005: 7 years2006: 7.8 years2007: 7.8 years2008: 8.3 years2009: 8.5 years2010: 9 years2011: 9 years2012: 9.4 years2013: 9.6 years2014: 9.6 years2015: 9.4 years2016: 9.3 years2017: 9.4 years2018: 9.6 years

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.

Analysis

In 2018, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Afghanistan stood at 9.58 years. That is the highest value across all 39 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.3% on the previous year and up 14.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Afghanistan peaked at 9.58 years in 2018 and was at its lowest, 1.67 years, in 1982.

Afghanistan ranks 162nd of 197 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Afghanistan, year by year

Annual values for School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes (years) in Afghanistan, 1970 to 2018.
Year years Change
1970 2.37 years
1971 2.48 years +4.7%
1972 2.55 years +3.0%
1973 2.6 years +1.9%
1974 2.74 years +5.2%
1975 2.73 years -0.1%
1976 2.85 years +4.3%
1977 2.95 years +3.7%
1978 3.09 years +4.5%
1980 3.65 years +18.3%
1981 4.02 years +10.1%
1982 1.67 years -58.4%
1984 2.06 years +23.2%
1985 2.22 years +7.7%
1986 2.28 years +2.5%
1988 2.74 years +20.5%
1989 2.57 years -6.2%
1990 2.39 years -7.0%
1991 2.58 years +7.8%
1993 2.7 years +4.7%
1994 3.69 years +36.5%
1995 3.81 years +3.5%
2001 1.99 years -47.8%
2003 6.35 years +218.9%
2004 7.33 years +15.4%
2005 7 years -4.5%
2006 7.8 years +11.3%
2007 7.82 years +0.2%
2008 8.34 years +6.7%
2009 8.48 years +1.7%
2010 9.04 years +6.6%
2011 8.96 years -0.8%
2012 9.43 years +5.2%
2013 9.57 years +1.5%
2014 9.56 years -0.1%
2015 9.36 years -2.2%
2016 9.27 years -0.9%
2017 9.37 years +1.1%
2018 9.58 years +2.3%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 2.71 years 2.37 years 3.09 years 9
1980s 2.65 years 1.67 years 4.02 years 8
1990s 3.04 years 2.39 years 3.81 years 5
2000s 6.89 years 1.99 years 8.48 years 8
2010s 9.35 years 8.96 years 9.58 years 9

Countries ranked near Afghanistan

  1. 159 Mozambique 9.62 years compare
  2. 160 Papua New Guinea 9.62 years compare
  3. 161 Republic of Moldova 9.59 years compare
  4. 163 Tuvalu 9.52 years compare
  5. 164 Jamaica 9.35 years compare
  6. 165 Madagascar 9.33 years compare

See the full ranking of 242 places →

More education data for Afghanistan

All data for Afghanistan →

Frequently asked questions

What is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Afghanistan?
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Afghanistan was 9.58 years in 2018, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes recorded in Afghanistan?
The highest recorded value was 9.58 years in 2018.
What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes recorded in Afghanistan?
The lowest recorded value was 1.67 years in 1982.
How does Afghanistan rank for school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes?
Afghanistan ranks 162nd out of 197 countries with data for 2018.
Is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes rising or falling in Afghanistan?
Over the last ten years it is up 14.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Afghanistan data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 39 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Afghanistan. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 31 August 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/school-life-expectancy-primary-and-secondary-both-sexes-years/afghanistan/

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/stat/school-life-expectancy-primary-and-secondary-both-sexes-years/afghanistan/">School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Afghanistan</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes (years)
Unit
years
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
242 places, 8,554 data points, 1970–2020
Last refreshed

Number of years a person of school entrance age can expect to spend within the specified level of education. For a child of a certain age a, the school life expectancy is calculated as the sum of the age specific enrolment rates for the levels of education specified. The part of the enrolment that is not distributed by age is divided by the school-age population for the level of education they are enrolled in, and multiplied by the duration of that level of education. The result is then added to the sum of the age-specific enrolment rates. A relatively high SLE indicates greater probability for children to spend more years in education and higher overall retention within the education system. It must be noted that the expected number of years does not necessarily coincide with the expected number of grades of education completed, because of repetition. Since school life expectancy is an average based on participation in different levels of education, the expected number of years of schooling may be pulled down by the magnitude of children who never go to school. Those children who are in school may benefit from many more years of education than the average.