School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates: School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes was 12.49 years in 2017. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in United Arab Emirates, 1971–2017
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
In 2017, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in United Arab Emirates stood at 12.49 years. That is the highest value across all 29 years on record.
The figure is up 4.3% on the previous year.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in United Arab Emirates peaked at 12.49 years in 2017 and was at its lowest, 5.96 years, in 1971.
That places United Arab Emirates 49th out of 197 countries with data for 2017, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 29 years of available data.
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in United Arab Emirates, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 5.96 years | — |
| 1972 | 6.38 years | +6.9% |
| 1973 | 6.42 years | +0.7% |
| 1974 | 6.16 years | -4.1% |
| 1975 | 6.3 years | +2.2% |
| 1976 | 7.42 years | +17.8% |
| 1977 | 7.79 years | +5.0% |
| 1978 | 7.98 years | +2.5% |
| 1979 | 7.87 years | -1.4% |
| 1980 | 8.39 years | +6.7% |
| 1981 | 8.85 years | +5.5% |
| 1982 | 9.21 years | +4.0% |
| 1983 | 8.98 years | -2.5% |
| 1984 | 9.26 years | +3.1% |
| 1985 | 9.39 years | +1.4% |
| 1986 | 9.49 years | +1.1% |
| 1987 | 9.42 years | -0.7% |
| 1988 | 9.43 years | +0.1% |
| 1989 | 9.74 years | +3.3% |
| 1990 | 10.15 years | +4.2% |
| 1991 | 10.47 years | +3.1% |
| 1992 | 10.34 years | -1.2% |
| 1993 | 10.39 years | +0.4% |
| 1994 | 10.68 years | +2.9% |
| 1995 | 10.91 years | +2.2% |
| 1997 | 10.35 years | -5.2% |
| 1998 | 10.15 years | -1.9% |
| 2016 | 11.97 years | +17.9% |
| 2017 | 12.49 years | +4.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 6.92 years | 5.96 years | 7.98 years | 9 |
| 1980s | 9.22 years | 8.39 years | 9.74 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 10.43 years | 10.15 years | 10.91 years | 8 |
| 2010s | 12.23 years | 11.97 years | 12.49 years | 2 |
Countries ranked near United Arab Emirates
More education data for United Arab Emirates
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 125,307 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 894,302 (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 586,477 (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 5.74 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0534 units per person (2024)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Enrolment in primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 586,477 (2024)
- Enrolment in primary education, both sexes (number), annual growth 5.74 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in United Arab Emirates?
- School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in United Arab Emirates was 12.49 years in 2017, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes recorded in United Arab Emirates?
- The highest recorded value was 12.49 years in 2017.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes recorded in United Arab Emirates?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.96 years in 1971.
- How does United Arab Emirates rank for school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes?
- United Arab Emirates ranks 49th out of 197 countries with data for 2017.
- Where does this United Arab Emirates 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.