School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Ireland
Ireland: School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes was 15.78 years in 2018. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Ireland, 1971–2018
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
In 2018, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Ireland stood at 15.78 years. That is the highest value across all 47 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 10.3% on the previous year and up 15.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Ireland peaked at 15.78 years in 2018 and was at its lowest, 10.48 years, in 1971.
Ireland ranks 2nd of 197 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 47 years of available data.
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Ireland, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 10.48 years | — |
| 1972 | 10.5 years | +0.2% |
| 1973 | 10.71 years | +2.0% |
| 1974 | 10.73 years | +0.2% |
| 1975 | 10.88 years | +1.4% |
| 1976 | 11.02 years | +1.2% |
| 1977 | 11.08 years | +0.6% |
| 1978 | 11.09 years | +0.1% |
| 1979 | 11.03 years | -0.5% |
| 1980 | 10.95 years | -0.8% |
| 1981 | 10.89 years | -0.6% |
| 1982 | 10.93 years | +0.4% |
| 1983 | 10.97 years | +0.3% |
| 1984 | 10.85 years | -1.1% |
| 1985 | 10.87 years | +0.2% |
| 1986 | 11 years | +1.2% |
| 1987 | 11.06 years | +0.5% |
| 1988 | 11.06 years | -0.0% |
| 1989 | 11 years | -0.5% |
| 1990 | 10.97 years | -0.2% |
| 1991 | 10.95 years | -0.2% |
| 1992 | 11.01 years | +0.5% |
| 1993 | 11.4 years | +3.6% |
| 1994 | 11.5 years | +0.9% |
| 1995 | 11.53 years | +0.2% |
| 1996 | 11.48 years | -0.4% |
| 1997 | 11.6 years | +1.1% |
| 1998 | 13.48 years | +16.2% |
| 1999 | 13.51 years | +0.2% |
| 2000 | 13.53 years | +0.1% |
| 2001 | 13.48 years | -0.3% |
| 2002 | 13.57 years | +0.6% |
| 2003 | 13.61 years | +0.3% |
| 2004 | 13.68 years | +0.5% |
| 2005 | 13.71 years | +0.2% |
| 2006 | 13.67 years | -0.3% |
| 2007 | 13.77 years | +0.7% |
| 2008 | 13.71 years | -0.5% |
| 2009 | 13.86 years | +1.1% |
| 2010 | 14.06 years | +1.5% |
| 2011 | 14 years | -0.5% |
| 2012 | 13.98 years | -0.1% |
| 2014 | 13.92 years | -0.5% |
| 2015 | 13.91 years | -0.0% |
| 2016 | 13.91 years | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 14.31 years | +2.8% |
| 2018 | 15.78 years | +10.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 10.84 years | 10.48 years | 11.09 years | 9 |
| 1980s | 10.96 years | 10.85 years | 11.06 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 11.74 years | 10.95 years | 13.51 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 13.66 years | 13.48 years | 13.86 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 14.23 years | 13.91 years | 15.78 years | 8 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More education data for Ireland
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, both sexes (number) -0.9368 % change on previous year (2022)
- Teachers in primary education, female (number), gaps filled 35,618 (2023)
- Teachers in primary education, male (number), gaps filled 6,544 (2023)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female (number) 134,541 (2022)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female (number) 0.1981 % change on previous year (2022)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, male (number), gaps 112,690 (2022)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, male (number) -2.26 % change on previous year (2022)
- Theoretical duration of primary education (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- 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) 0.0494 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Ireland?
- School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Ireland was 15.78 years in 2018, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 15.78 years in 2018.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 10.48 years in 1971.
- How does Ireland rank for school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes?
- Ireland ranks 2nd out of 197 countries with data for 2018.
- Is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 15.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Ireland 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 — 47 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.