School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes was 8.79 years in 2018. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1970–2018
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
In 2018, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Sub-Saharan Africa stood at 8.79 years.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.3% on the previous year and up 6.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 8.98 years in 2013 and was at its lowest, 4.18 years, in 1970.
That places Sub-Saharan Africa 40th out of 45 groups with data for 2018, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 49 years of available data.
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 4.18 years | — |
| 1971 | 4.23 years | +1.2% |
| 1972 | 4.33 years | +2.4% |
| 1973 | 4.39 years | +1.3% |
| 1974 | 4.53 years | +3.3% |
| 1975 | 4.67 years | +3.1% |
| 1976 | 4.79 years | +2.5% |
| 1977 | 5 years | +4.4% |
| 1978 | 5.27 years | +5.4% |
| 1979 | 5.62 years | +6.8% |
| 1980 | 5.89 years | +4.7% |
| 1981 | 6.14 years | +4.2% |
| 1982 | 6.35 years | +3.5% |
| 1983 | 6.41 years | +0.9% |
| 1984 | 6.41 years | -0.0% |
| 1985 | 6.27 years | -2.1% |
| 1986 | 6.06 years | -3.4% |
| 1987 | 5.98 years | -1.4% |
| 1988 | 5.93 years | -0.7% |
| 1989 | 5.92 years | -0.2% |
| 1990 | 5.86 years | -1.1% |
| 1991 | 5.97 years | +1.9% |
| 1992 | 5.92 years | -0.8% |
| 1993 | 5.97 years | +0.8% |
| 1994 | 6 years | +0.4% |
| 1995 | 6.05 years | +0.9% |
| 1996 | 5.95 years | -1.7% |
| 1997 | 6.18 years | +3.9% |
| 1998 | 6.35 years | +2.7% |
| 1999 | 6.46 years | +1.8% |
| 2000 | 6.66 years | +3.0% |
| 2001 | 6.83 years | +2.5% |
| 2002 | 7.05 years | +3.2% |
| 2003 | 7.29 years | +3.4% |
| 2004 | 7.58 years | +4.0% |
| 2005 | 7.81 years | +3.0% |
| 2006 | 8 years | +2.5% |
| 2007 | 8.07 years | +0.9% |
| 2008 | 8.29 years | +2.7% |
| 2009 | 8.42 years | +1.6% |
| 2010 | 8.53 years | +1.3% |
| 2011 | 8.69 years | +1.8% |
| 2012 | 8.77 years | +1.0% |
| 2013 | 8.98 years | +2.4% |
| 2014 | 8.85 years | -1.5% |
| 2015 | 8.78 years | -0.8% |
| 2016 | 8.75 years | -0.3% |
| 2017 | 8.77 years | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 8.79 years | +0.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 4.7 years | 4.18 years | 5.62 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 6.14 years | 5.89 years | 6.41 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 6.07 years | 5.86 years | 6.46 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 7.6 years | 6.66 years | 8.42 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.77 years | 8.53 years | 8.98 years | 9 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa
More education data for Sub-Saharan Africa
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 81.43 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1526 units per person (2024)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 0.9738 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 196.80 million (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 5.14 million (2024)
- Population ages 0-14 40.4% (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 56.4% (2025)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Sub-Saharan Africa was 8.79 years in 2018, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 8.98 years in 2013.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.18 years in 1970.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes?
- Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 40th out of 45 groups with data for 2018.
- Is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa 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 — 49 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.