School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe: School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes was 11.01 years in 2013. ▲ Rising

Latest (2013)
11.01 years
Change on year
down 0.9%
World rank
125th
of 197 countries
All-time high
11.11 years
in 2012
All-time low
4.45 years
in 1979
Years of data
34
1970–2013

School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Zimbabwe, 1970–2013

02.557.5101970199120131970: 5.3 years1971: 4.9 years1972: 5.1 years1973: 5.2 years1974: 5.3 years1975: 5.3 years1976: 5.2 years1977: 5.1 years1978: 4.6 years1979: 4.5 years1980: 6.2 years1981: 8.6 years1982: 9.5 years1983: 10.2 years1984: 10.8 years1985: 10.9 years1986: 11.1 years1987: 10.4 years1988: 10.2 years1989: 10.1 years1990: 9.5 years1991: 10.1 years1992: 9.7 years1993: 9.9 years1995: 10 years1996: 10 years1997: 10.1 years1999: 10.1 years2000: 10.1 years2001: 10.5 years2002: 10 years2003: 9.7 years2012: 11.1 years2013: 11 years

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.

Analysis

Zimbabwe recorded 11.01 years for school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in 2013.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.9% on the previous year and up 13.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Zimbabwe peaked at 11.11 years in 2012 and was at its lowest, 4.45 years, in 1979.

That places Zimbabwe 125th out of 197 countries with data for 2013, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.

School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Zimbabwe, year by year

Annual values for School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes (years) in Zimbabwe, 1970 to 2013.
Year years Change
1970 5.34 years
1971 4.9 years -8.1%
1972 5.13 years +4.7%
1973 5.18 years +0.8%
1974 5.27 years +1.8%
1975 5.28 years +0.3%
1976 5.23 years -0.9%
1977 5.12 years -2.1%
1978 4.63 years -9.7%
1979 4.45 years -3.7%
1980 6.19 years +39.1%
1981 8.57 years +38.4%
1982 9.54 years +11.3%
1983 10.2 years +6.9%
1984 10.83 years +6.2%
1985 10.91 years +0.7%
1986 11.09 years +1.7%
1987 10.43 years -6.0%
1988 10.16 years -2.6%
1989 10.13 years -0.4%
1990 9.53 years -5.9%
1991 10.08 years +5.7%
1992 9.71 years -3.6%
1993 9.86 years +1.5%
1995 9.97 years +1.1%
1996 10 years +0.3%
1997 10.14 years +1.4%
1999 10.09 years -0.5%
2000 10.13 years +0.3%
2001 10.48 years +3.5%
2002 9.99 years -4.6%
2003 9.7 years -3.0%
2012 11.11 years +14.6%
2013 11.01 years -0.9%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 5.05 years 4.45 years 5.34 years 10
1980s 9.81 years 6.19 years 11.09 years 10
1990s 9.92 years 9.53 years 10.14 years 8
2000s 10.07 years 9.7 years 10.48 years 4
2010s 11.06 years 11.01 years 11.11 years 2

Countries ranked near Zimbabwe

  1. 122 Palestine, State of 11.12 years compare
  2. 123 Gibraltar 11.11 years compare
  3. 124 Bulgaria 11.03 years compare
  4. 126 Ghana 11.01 years compare
  5. 127 Nicaragua 10.97 years compare
  6. 128 Maldives 10.93 years compare

See the full ranking of 242 places →

More education data for Zimbabwe

All data for Zimbabwe →

Frequently asked questions

What is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Zimbabwe?
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Zimbabwe was 11.01 years in 2013, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes recorded in Zimbabwe?
The highest recorded value was 11.11 years in 2012.
What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes recorded in Zimbabwe?
The lowest recorded value was 4.45 years in 1979.
How does Zimbabwe rank for school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes?
Zimbabwe ranks 125th out of 197 countries with data for 2013.
Is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes rising or falling in Zimbabwe?
Over the last ten years it is up 13.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Zimbabwe 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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School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes in Zimbabwe. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 25 August 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/school-life-expectancy-primary-and-secondary-both-sexes-years/zimbabwe/

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About this data

Indicator
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, both sexes (years)
Unit
years
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
242 places, 8,554 data points, 1970–2020
Last refreshed

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.