School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes (years) in Kenya
Kenya: School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes (years) was 9.98 years in 2009. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Kenya, 1970–2009
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
Kenya recorded 9.98 years for school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in 2009. That is the highest value across all 30 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.9% on the previous year and up 28.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Kenya peaked at 9.98 years in 2009 and was at its lowest, 4.89 years, in 1970.
Kenya ranks 151st of 197 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 30 years of available data.
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes (years) in Kenya, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 4.89 years | — |
| 1971 | 5.05 years | +3.3% |
| 1972 | 5.36 years | +6.1% |
| 1973 | 5.58 years | +4.2% |
| 1974 | 7.72 years | +38.3% |
| 1975 | 7.98 years | +3.4% |
| 1976 | 7.89 years | -1.2% |
| 1977 | 7.86 years | -0.3% |
| 1978 | 7.72 years | -1.8% |
| 1979 | 8.94 years | +15.8% |
| 1980 | 9.16 years | +2.5% |
| 1981 | 8.88 years | -3.0% |
| 1982 | 8.96 years | +0.8% |
| 1983 | 8.99 years | +0.3% |
| 1984 | 8.81 years | -2.0% |
| 1985 | 9.02 years | +2.5% |
| 1986 | 8.95 years | -0.8% |
| 1987 | 9.05 years | +1.1% |
| 1988 | 8.88 years | -1.8% |
| 1999 | 7.78 years | -12.4% |
| 2000 | 8.06 years | +3.5% |
| 2001 | 8.18 years | +1.6% |
| 2002 | 7.89 years | -3.6% |
| 2003 | 8.86 years | +12.4% |
| 2004 | 9.08 years | +2.4% |
| 2005 | 9.1 years | +0.2% |
| 2006 | 9.05 years | -0.5% |
| 2007 | 9.49 years | +4.8% |
| 2008 | 9.89 years | +4.2% |
| 2009 | 9.98 years | +0.9% |
Kenya compared with similar countries
- Kenya's 9.98 years is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 10.6 years, 94% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Kenya's 9.98 years is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 9.91 years, 1.0× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes (years) in Kenya 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | +38.3% | 5.58 years | 7.72 years |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 6.9 years | 4.89 years | 8.94 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 8.97 years | 8.81 years | 9.16 years | 9 |
| 1990s | 7.78 years | 7.78 years | 7.78 years | 1 |
| 2000s | 8.96 years | 7.89 years | 9.98 years | 10 |
Countries ranked near Kenya
- 148 Puerto Rico 10.11 years
- 149 Cambodia 10.04 years compare
- 150 India 10.01 years compare
- 152 El Salvador 9.98 years compare
- 153 Iraq 9.95 years compare
- 154 Cote d'Ivoire 9.91 years compare
More education data for Kenya
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 99.57 (2023)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 94.27 (2023)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 168,396 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 235,728 (2016)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 1.44 million (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 1.44 million (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 6.74 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 8.04 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -0.7181 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Kenya?
- School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Kenya was 9.98 years in 2009, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes recorded in Kenya?
- The highest recorded value was 9.98 years in 2009.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes recorded in Kenya?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.89 years in 1970.
- How does Kenya rank for school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes?
- Kenya ranks 151st out of 197 countries with data for 2009.
- Is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes rising or falling in Kenya?
- Over the last ten years it is up 28.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Kenya 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 — 30 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.