School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Ghana
Ghana: School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes was 11.01 years in 2019. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Ghana, 1971–2019
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
Ghana recorded 11.01 years for school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in 2019. That is the highest value across all 40 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.9% on the previous year and up 13.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Ghana peaked at 11.01 years in 2019 and was at its lowest, 6.15 years, in 1975.
Ghana ranks 126th of 197 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 40 years of available data.
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Ghana, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 6.78 years | — |
| 1973 | 6.5 years | -4.1% |
| 1974 | 6.22 years | -4.3% |
| 1975 | 6.15 years | -1.3% |
| 1976 | 6.42 years | +4.4% |
| 1977 | 6.51 years | +1.4% |
| 1978 | 6.5 years | -0.1% |
| 1979 | 6.58 years | +1.2% |
| 1980 | 6.75 years | +2.6% |
| 1981 | 6.92 years | +2.5% |
| 1982 | 6.97 years | +0.7% |
| 1983 | 6.94 years | -0.5% |
| 1984 | 6.79 years | -2.1% |
| 1985 | 6.83 years | +0.5% |
| 1986 | 6.66 years | -2.5% |
| 1987 | 6.74 years | +1.2% |
| 1988 | 6.84 years | +1.5% |
| 1989 | 6.79 years | -0.6% |
| 1990 | 6.74 years | -0.9% |
| 1995 | 7.2 years | +6.9% |
| 1999 | 7.33 years | +1.7% |
| 2000 | 7.59 years | +3.6% |
| 2001 | 7.16 years | -5.7% |
| 2002 | 7.44 years | +3.9% |
| 2003 | 7.28 years | -2.1% |
| 2004 | 7.67 years | +5.3% |
| 2005 | 8.15 years | +6.3% |
| 2006 | 8.56 years | +5.0% |
| 2007 | 9.13 years | +6.7% |
| 2008 | 9.61 years | +5.2% |
| 2009 | 9.7 years | +0.9% |
| 2011 | 10.29 years | +6.1% |
| 2012 | 10.54 years | +2.4% |
| 2013 | 10.65 years | +1.1% |
| 2014 | 10.28 years | -3.5% |
| 2015 | 10.77 years | +4.8% |
| 2016 | 10.74 years | -0.3% |
| 2017 | 10.67 years | -0.7% |
| 2018 | 10.7 years | +0.3% |
| 2019 | 11.01 years | +2.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 6.46 years | 6.15 years | 6.78 years | 8 |
| 1980s | 6.82 years | 6.66 years | 6.97 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 7.09 years | 6.74 years | 7.33 years | 3 |
| 2000s | 8.23 years | 7.16 years | 9.7 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 10.63 years | 10.28 years | 11.01 years | 9 |
Countries ranked near Ghana
More education data for Ghana
- Theoretical duration of pre-primary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (pre-primary to post-secondary non) 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of lower secondary education (years), annual 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of upper secondary education (years), annual 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of secondary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), gaps filled 2,023 tertiary education (2024)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), annual growth 0.0495 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 122,558 (2024)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre-primary education 2 years (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Ghana?
- School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Ghana was 11.01 years in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes recorded in Ghana?
- The highest recorded value was 11.01 years in 2019.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes recorded in Ghana?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.15 years in 1975.
- How does Ghana rank for school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes?
- Ghana ranks 126th out of 197 countries with data for 2019.
- Is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes rising or falling in Ghana?
- Over the last ten years it is up 13.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Ghana 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.
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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.