Statizoid

School life expectancy, primary and secondary, female (years) by country

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...

Countries reporting
189
Highest
16.4 years
Sweden
Lowest
1.22 years
Somalia
Median
11.64 years
Years covered
51
1970–2020
Data points
7,783

What the numbers show

School life expectancy, primary and secondary, female (years) is currently reported for 189 countries. The highest value is 16.4 years in Sweden; the lowest is 1.22 years in Somalia.

The median across all reporting countries is 11.64 years, and the mean is 11.15 years.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 13.

Over the past decade 133 countries rose and 48 fell. The largest increase was in Angola (up 107.6%), and the largest decrease in Syria (down 23.0%).

School life expectancy, primary and secondary, female: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Sweden 16.4 years 2018 up 36.7% rising
3 Belgium 15.76 years 2018 down 1.5% rising
4 Finland 15.21 years 2018 up 20.8% rising
5 Iceland 15.08 years 2018 up 2.4% rising
6 Denmark 14.7 years 2018 up 10.6% rising
7 Australia 14.43 years 2018 — flat
8 Netherlands 14.35 years 2018 up 5.4% rising
9 United Kingdom 14.33 years 2018 up 8.4% rising
10 New Zealand 14.28 years 2018 down 1.1% rising
11 Slovenia 14.08 years 2018 up 10.1% rising
12 Tonga 14.02 years 2015 up 11.4% rising
13 Uruguay 13.98 years 2018 up 12.7% rising
14 Costa Rica 13.95 years 2019 up 18.2% rising
15 Tunisia 13.86 years 2016 up 7.6% rising
16 Norway 13.81 years 2018 up 0.9% rising
18 Spain 13.59 years 2018 up 3.9% rising
19 Grenada 13.52 years 2018 up 2.7% rising
20 Palau 13.51 years 2014 up 14.6% rising
21 Samoa 13.5 years 2016 up 5.3% rising
22 Portugal 13.37 years 2018 up 1.8% rising
24 Suriname 13.34 years 2015 up 12.9% rising
25 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 13.34 years 2018 up 1.1% rising
26 Czechia 13.29 years 2018 up 5.5% rising
27 Argentina 13.28 years 2017 up 2.5% rising
28 Sri Lanka 13.24 years 2018 up 4.1% rising
29 Switzerland 13.23 years 2018 up 4.0% rising
30 Nauru 13.18 years 2019 up 36.2% rising
31 Hong Kong 13.02 years 2019 up 2.4% rising
32 Fiji 13.02 years 2012 up 5.2% rising
33 Mexico 12.99 years 2018 up 8.6% rising
34 Italy 12.99 years 2018 down 1.8% rising
35 Saint Kitts and Nevis 12.94 years 2016 up 2.5% rising
36 Mauritius 12.89 years 2019 up 3.0% rising
37 Canada 12.88 years 2018 up 7.9% rising
38 Libya 12.76 years 2006 — rising
39 Antigua and Barbuda 12.74 years 2018 down 6.5% rising
40 Israel 12.73 years 2018 up 1.3% rising
41 Algeria 12.72 years 2011 up 24.5% rising
42 Estonia 12.72 years 2018 up 3.6% rising
43 Thailand 12.7 years 2019 up 16.0% rising
44 Nepal 12.7 years 2019 up 21.2% rising
45 Bhutan 12.69 years 2018 up 23.4% volatile
46 Brunei 12.63 years 2019 down 4.6% rising
47 Lithuania 12.6 years 2018 up 1.1% rising
48 Germany 12.57 years 2018 down 4.2% flat
49 Saudi Arabia 12.52 years 2019 up 7.9% rising
50 France 12.47 years 2018 down 0.8% rising
51 Latvia 12.45 years 2018 up 0.8% rising
52 Ecuador 12.44 years 2018 up 17.0% rising
53 Eswatini 12.38 years 2016 up 14.7% rising
54 Qatar 12.36 years 2010 up 3.3% rising
55 Georgia 12.35 years 2019 up 10.2% rising
57 Oman 12.32 years 2019 up 3.6% volatile
58 Montenegro 12.31 years 2019 down 1.9% flat
59 Poland 12.26 years 2018 up 7.1% rising
60 Kuwait 12.25 years 2015 down 8.1% rising
61 Kiribati 12.25 years 2008 up 9.5% rising
62 Slovakia 12.23 years 2018 up 0.0% rising
63 United Arab Emirates 12.21 years 2017 — rising
64 French Polynesia 12.2 years 1993 — rising
65 East Timor 12.19 years 2019 up 10.4% rising
66 Brazil 12.11 years 2011 down 12.0% falling
67 Chile 12.11 years 2018 up 2.5% rising
68 Sao Tome and Principe 12.09 years 2017 up 22.1% rising
69 Greece 12.08 years 2018 up 6.2% rising
70 Cuba 12.08 years 2019 up 4.6% rising
71 Turkey 12.05 years 2018 up 20.2% rising
72 Hungary 12.05 years 2018 up 3.3% rising
73 Croatia 12.04 years 2018 up 1.5% rising
74 Dominica 12 years 2019 up 1.2% flat
75 United States 11.99 years 2018 up 0.9% flat
76 Macao 11.98 years 2019 up 16.2% rising
77 Albania 11.97 years 2019 up 12.0% rising
78 Peru 11.96 years 2019 up 6.5% rising
79 Bahrain 11.95 years 2019 up 5.0% rising
80 Aruba 11.93 years 2012 up 1.3% flat
81 South Africa 11.93 years 2018 down 1.1% rising
82 Cyprus 11.88 years 2018 down 1.7% rising
83 Austria 11.85 years 2018 up 1.4% rising
84 Kazakhstan 11.85 years 2019 up 4.2% rising
85 South Korea 11.82 years 2018 down 0.3% rising
86 Uzbekistan 11.81 years 2019 up 8.3% rising
87 Seychelles 11.8 years 2019 down 3.4% rising
88 Lesotho 11.77 years 2017 up 6.4% rising
89 Micronesia (country) 11.77 years 2005 — falling
90 Egypt 11.76 years 2019 up 17.6% rising
91 Belize 11.74 years 2019 up 3.7% rising
92 Botswana 11.74 years 2008 down 0.8% rising
93 Iran 11.73 years 2017 up 12.9% rising
94 Bermuda 11.71 years 2015 down 1.3% rising
95 Indonesia 11.67 years 2018 up 10.5% rising
96 Dominican Republic 11.67 years 2019 up 2.4% rising
97 Saint Lucia 11.67 years 2019 up 1.3% rising
98 Azerbaijan 11.65 years 2019 — rising
99 Mongolia 11.64 years 2010 up 40.9% rising
100 Cape Verde 11.63 years 2018 down 3.0% rising
101 Malaysia 11.63 years 2017 up 8.3% rising
102 Gabon 11.6 years 1999 up 2.5% rising
103 Serbia 11.59 years 2019 up 2.3% flat
104 Colombia 11.57 years 2018 down 3.3% rising
105 Morocco 11.52 years 2019 up 20.7% rising
106 Bangladesh 11.51 years 2018 up 34.7% rising
107 Romania 11.48 years 2018 down 3.0% rising
108 Palestine 11.48 years 2019 up 6.1% rising
109 Namibia 11.47 years 2007 up 2.5% flat
110 Trinidad and Tobago 11.4 years 2004 up 6.4% rising
111 Philippines 11.34 years 2018 up 15.2% rising
112 British Virgin Islands 11.31 years 2018 down 18.4% flat
113 Russia 11.31 years 2018 up 11.7% rising
114 North Macedonia 11.28 years 2018 up 5.5% rising
115 Bolivia 11.27 years 2018 down 4.7% rising
116 Belarus 11.22 years 2018 down 3.7% rising
117 Nicaragua 11.15 years 2010 up 20.2% rising
118 China 11.14 years 2010 up 21.3% rising
119 Barbados 11.13 years 2019 down 0.9% flat
120 Togo 11.1 years 2017 up 31.1% rising
121 Gibraltar 11.06 years 2019 up 9.6% flat
122 Malawi 11.06 years 2019 up 9.9% rising
123 Ghana 11.04 years 2019 up 17.3% rising
124 Benin 11.04 years 2016 up 63.5% volatile
125 Paraguay 10.99 years 2012 down 1.8% rising
126 Bulgaria 10.89 years 2018 down 4.1% rising
127 Rwanda 10.87 years 2019 up 1.1% rising
128 Turks and Caicos Islands 10.86 years 2018 up 6.1% falling
129 Maldives 10.85 years 2019 down 9.5% rising
130 Zimbabwe 10.83 years 2013 up 14.6% rising
131 San Marino 10.82 years 2019 down 17.6% rising
132 Armenia 10.81 years 2019 up 4.4% rising
133 Kyrgyzstan 10.78 years 2019 up 5.7% flat
134 Vanuatu 10.77 years 2015 up 7.1% rising
135 Guyana 10.75 years 2012 down 3.3% rising
136 Cameroon 10.67 years 2016 up 51.3% rising
137 Ukraine 10.66 years 2014 down 0.6% flat
138 Sierra Leone 10.46 years 2017 up 19.3% volatile
139 Comoros 10.46 years 2018 up 19.4% rising
140 Solomon Islands 10.43 years 2012 up 38.8% rising
141 Burundi 10.37 years 2019 up 14.2% volatile
142 Venezuela 10.36 years 2017 down 1.2% rising
143 Panama 10.34 years 2017 down 2.9% rising
144 Puerto Rico 10.32 years 2018 down 8.5% falling
145 Congo 10.2 years 2012 up 22.7% rising
146 India 10.11 years 2019 up 5.7% rising
147 Uganda 10.09 years 2007 up 24.3% rising
148 Tajikistan 9.86 years 2013 up 10.4% rising
149 El Salvador 9.85 years 2018 down 9.4% rising
150 Cayman Islands 9.8 years 2018 down 7.7% falling
151 Myanmar 9.74 years 2018 up 25.4% rising
152 Kenya 9.68 years 2009 up 27.2% rising
153 Tuvalu 9.66 years 2019 down 15.5% rising
154 Cambodia 9.57 years 2008 up 58.5% rising
155 Moldova 9.5 years 2019 down 4.4% flat
156 Madagascar 9.41 years 2019 down 3.7% rising
157 Laos 9.38 years 2019 up 15.0% rising
158 Mauritania 9.34 years 2019 up 23.2% rising
159 Jamaica 9.33 years 2019 down 10.3% falling
160 Cote d'Ivoire 9.27 years 2019 up 29.5% rising
161 Mozambique 9.17 years 2017 up 12.7% rising
162 Bahamas 9.12 years 2018 down 19.3% falling
163 Guatemala 9.05 years 2019 down 6.6% rising
164 Honduras 9.01 years 2019 down 5.1% rising
165 Tanzania 8.98 years 2019 down 0.9% rising
166 Burkina Faso 8.88 years 2019 up 59.1% volatile
167 Iraq 8.83 years 2007 up 35.0% rising
168 Jordan 8.82 years 2019 down 16.6% flat
169 Papua New Guinea 8.8 years 2016 — rising
170 Senegal 8.72 years 2019 up 23.1% rising
171 Marshall Islands 8.71 years 2019 down 17.9% falling
172 Democratic Republic of Congo 8.61 years 2015 up 31.5% rising
173 Liberia 8.4 years 2015 up 4.5% volatile
174 Yemen 7.86 years 2016 up 23.2% rising
175 Ethiopia 7.86 years 2015 up 40.6% volatile
176 Gambia 7.84 years 2010 up 64.6% volatile
177 Djibouti 7.55 years 2020 up 47.6% volatile
178 Nigeria 7.43 years 2016 down 4.8% rising
179 Afghanistan 7.38 years 2018 up 22.3% volatile
180 Syria 7.36 years 2013 down 23.0% rising
181 Pakistan 7.36 years 2019 up 25.4% rising
182 Guinea 7.31 years 2014 up 42.2% volatile
183 Zambia 7.21 years 1988 up 9.5% rising
184 Angola 7.05 years 2011 up 107.6% rising
185 Sudan 6.94 years 2017 up 28.3% rising
186 Eritrea 6.59 years 2018 down 6.0% rising
187 Mali 6.41 years 2018 up 8.0% volatile
188 Central African Republic 6.19 years 2016 up 20.9% rising
189 Equatorial Guinea 5.98 years 2005 down 19.9% rising
190 Chad 5.77 years 2019 up 15.1% rising
191 Niger 5.6 years 2017 up 75.6% volatile
192 Guinea-Bissau 4.47 years 2000 up 83.8% rising
193 Somalia 1.22 years 2007 — rising

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

About this data

Indicator
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, female (years)
Unit
years
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
238 places, 7,783 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.