School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Germany
Germany: School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes was 12.78 years in 2018. ▬ Flat
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Germany, 1991–2018
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
In 2018, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Germany stood at 12.78 years. That is the lowest value across all 28 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.6% on the previous year and down 3.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Germany peaked at 13.55 years in 1997 and was at its lowest, 12.78 years, in 2018.
Germany ranks 38th of 197 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Germany, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 13 years | — |
| 1992 | 13.04 years | +0.3% |
| 1993 | 13.54 years | +3.8% |
| 1994 | 13.53 years | -0.1% |
| 1995 | 13.5 years | -0.2% |
| 1996 | 13.51 years | +0.1% |
| 1997 | 13.55 years | +0.3% |
| 1998 | 13.14 years | -3.0% |
| 1999 | 13.09 years | -0.4% |
| 2000 | 13.13 years | +0.3% |
| 2001 | 13.15 years | +0.1% |
| 2002 | 13.17 years | +0.2% |
| 2003 | 13.16 years | -0.1% |
| 2004 | 13.2 years | +0.3% |
| 2005 | 13.21 years | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 13.29 years | +0.7% |
| 2007 | 13.22 years | -0.5% |
| 2008 | 13.26 years | +0.3% |
| 2009 | 13.2 years | -0.5% |
| 2010 | 13.25 years | +0.3% |
| 2011 | 13.21 years | -0.3% |
| 2012 | 13.06 years | -1.1% |
| 2013 | 12.93 years | -1.0% |
| 2014 | 12.84 years | -0.8% |
| 2015 | 12.81 years | -0.2% |
| 2016 | 12.85 years | +0.3% |
| 2017 | 12.86 years | +0.1% |
| 2018 | 12.78 years | -0.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 13.32 years | 13 years | 13.55 years | 9 |
| 2000s | 13.2 years | 13.13 years | 13.29 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 12.96 years | 12.78 years | 13.25 years | 9 |
Countries ranked near Germany
More education data for Germany
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 283,851 (2024)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 62.4% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 13.9% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 10 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- Primary secondary enrollment completion rates, gaps filled 102.64 (2024)
- School enrollment, primary 102.6% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Germany?
- School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Germany was 12.78 years in 2018, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes recorded in Germany?
- The highest recorded value was 13.55 years in 1997.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes recorded in Germany?
- The lowest recorded value was 12.78 years in 2018.
- How does Germany rank for school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes?
- Germany ranks 38th out of 197 countries with data for 2018.
- Is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes rising or falling in Germany?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this Germany 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 — 28 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
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.