School life expectancy, primary and secondary, female in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: School life expectancy, primary and secondary, female was 8.45 years in 2018. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, female in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1970–2018
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
Sub-Saharan Africa recorded 8.45 years for school life expectancy, primary and secondary, female in 2018.
The figure is up 0.3% on the previous year and up 9.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, female in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 8.57 years in 2013 and was at its lowest, 3.45 years, in 1970.
Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 38th of 43 groups on this measure, 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, female in Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 3.45 years | — |
| 1971 | 3.5 years | +1.5% |
| 1972 | 3.61 years | +2.9% |
| 1973 | 3.68 years | +2.0% |
| 1974 | 3.83 years | +4.0% |
| 1975 | 3.94 years | +3.0% |
| 1976 | 4.04 years | +2.4% |
| 1977 | 4.26 years | +5.6% |
| 1978 | 4.53 years | +6.2% |
| 1979 | 4.84 years | +6.8% |
| 1980 | 5.07 years | +4.8% |
| 1981 | 5.33 years | +5.2% |
| 1982 | 5.52 years | +3.6% |
| 1983 | 5.52 years | -0.0% |
| 1984 | 5.48 years | -0.8% |
| 1985 | 5.45 years | -0.5% |
| 1986 | 5.35 years | -1.9% |
| 1987 | 5.32 years | -0.5% |
| 1988 | 5.23 years | -1.7% |
| 1989 | 5.3 years | +1.5% |
| 1990 | 5.23 years | -1.3% |
| 1991 | 5.36 years | +2.3% |
| 1992 | 5.34 years | -0.3% |
| 1993 | 5.39 years | +0.9% |
| 1994 | 5.41 years | +0.4% |
| 1995 | 5.46 years | +1.0% |
| 1996 | 5.38 years | -1.6% |
| 1997 | 5.58 years | +3.9% |
| 1998 | 5.72 years | +2.5% |
| 1999 | 5.84 years | +2.1% |
| 2000 | 6.02 years | +3.1% |
| 2001 | 6.2 years | +2.9% |
| 2002 | 6.37 years | +2.9% |
| 2003 | 6.62 years | +3.9% |
| 2004 | 6.91 years | +4.3% |
| 2005 | 7.16 years | +3.6% |
| 2006 | 7.38 years | +3.1% |
| 2007 | 7.48 years | +1.4% |
| 2008 | 7.73 years | +3.3% |
| 2009 | 7.89 years | +2.1% |
| 2010 | 8.03 years | +1.7% |
| 2011 | 8.17 years | +1.7% |
| 2012 | 8.33 years | +2.0% |
| 2013 | 8.57 years | +2.9% |
| 2014 | 8.47 years | -1.2% |
| 2015 | 8.43 years | -0.5% |
| 2016 | 8.41 years | -0.3% |
| 2017 | 8.43 years | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 8.45 years | +0.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3.97 years | 3.45 years | 4.84 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 5.36 years | 5.07 years | 5.52 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 5.47 years | 5.23 years | 5.84 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 6.98 years | 6.02 years | 7.89 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.36 years | 8.03 years | 8.57 years | 9 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa
More education data for Sub-Saharan Africa
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 5.14 million (2024)
- Population ages 0-14 40.4% (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 56.4% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 97.1% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, per capita 0.004 units per person (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 5.14 million (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 96.0% (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, male 98.2% (2024)
- Labor force, total 526.96 million (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, female in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- School life expectancy, primary and secondary, female in Sub-Saharan Africa was 8.45 years in 2018, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, female recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 8.57 years in 2013.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, female recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.45 years in 1970.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for school life expectancy, primary and secondary, female?
- Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 38th out of 43 groups with data for 2018.
- Is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, female rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.3%. 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, 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.