School life expectancy, primary and secondary, female in Least developed countries
Least developed countries: School life expectancy, primary and secondary, female was 8.76 years in 2019. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, female in Least developed countries, 1970–2019
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
In 2019, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, female in Least developed countries stood at 8.76 years. That is the highest value across all 50 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.2% on the previous year and up 11.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, female in Least developed countries peaked at 8.76 years in 2019 and was at its lowest, 2.74 years, in 1971.
That places Least developed countries 35th out of 43 groups with data for 2019, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 50 years of available data.
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, female in Least developed countries, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 2.76 years | — |
| 1971 | 2.74 years | -0.7% |
| 1972 | 2.91 years | +6.2% |
| 1973 | 3.03 years | +4.2% |
| 1974 | 3.07 years | +1.2% |
| 1975 | 3.21 years | +4.8% |
| 1976 | 3.33 years | +3.6% |
| 1977 | 3.44 years | +3.2% |
| 1978 | 3.57 years | +4.0% |
| 1979 | 3.7 years | +3.5% |
| 1980 | 3.85 years | +4.1% |
| 1981 | 3.97 years | +3.2% |
| 1982 | 4.1 years | +3.2% |
| 1983 | 4.1 years | +0.1% |
| 1984 | 4.14 years | +0.9% |
| 1985 | 4.04 years | -2.3% |
| 1986 | 4.09 years | +1.3% |
| 1987 | 4.1 years | +0.2% |
| 1988 | 4.28 years | +4.3% |
| 1989 | 4.28 years | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 4.22 years | -1.4% |
| 1991 | 4.39 years | +4.2% |
| 1992 | 4.43 years | +0.9% |
| 1993 | 4.51 years | +1.8% |
| 1994 | 4.63 years | +2.6% |
| 1995 | 4.8 years | +3.6% |
| 1996 | 4.91 years | +2.2% |
| 1997 | 5.13 years | +4.6% |
| 1998 | 5.3 years | +3.3% |
| 1999 | 5.45 years | +2.9% |
| 2000 | 5.69 years | +4.3% |
| 2001 | 5.91 years | +3.9% |
| 2002 | 6.25 years | +5.7% |
| 2003 | 6.5 years | +4.0% |
| 2004 | 6.64 years | +2.3% |
| 2005 | 6.92 years | +4.1% |
| 2006 | 7.19 years | +3.9% |
| 2007 | 7.39 years | +2.7% |
| 2008 | 7.67 years | +3.9% |
| 2009 | 7.83 years | +2.1% |
| 2010 | 8 years | +2.1% |
| 2011 | 8.18 years | +2.3% |
| 2012 | 8.29 years | +1.3% |
| 2013 | 8.43 years | +1.7% |
| 2014 | 8.5 years | +0.8% |
| 2015 | 8.53 years | +0.3% |
| 2016 | 8.61 years | +0.9% |
| 2017 | 8.65 years | +0.5% |
| 2018 | 8.74 years | +1.0% |
| 2019 | 8.76 years | +0.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3.18 years | 2.74 years | 3.7 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 4.1 years | 3.85 years | 4.28 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 4.78 years | 4.22 years | 5.45 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 6.8 years | 5.69 years | 7.83 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.47 years | 8 years | 8.76 years | 10 |
Countries ranked near Least developed countries
More education data for Least developed countries
- Population ages 15-64 57.7% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 38.4% (2025)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 4.43 million (2024)
- School enrollment, primary 100.7% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 4.43 million (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, per capita 0.0037 units per person (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 99.3% (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, male 102.0% (2024)
- Labor force, total, per capita 0.3712 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, female in Least developed countries?
- School life expectancy, primary and secondary, female in Least developed countries was 8.76 years in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, female recorded in Least developed countries?
- The highest recorded value was 8.76 years in 2019.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, female recorded in Least developed countries?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.74 years in 1971.
- How does Least developed countries rank for school life expectancy, primary and secondary, female?
- Least developed countries ranks 35th out of 43 groups with data for 2019.
- Is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, female rising or falling in Least developed countries?
- Over the last ten years it is up 11.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Least developed countries data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of School life expectancy, primary and secondary, female (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.