School life expectancy, primary and secondary, male in Nigeria

Nigeria: School life expectancy, primary and secondary, male was 8.01 years in 2016. ▲ Rising

Latest (2016)
8.01 years
Change on year
down 5.7%
World rank
182nd
of 193 countries
All-time high
10.51 years
in 1984
All-time low
3.49 years
in 1970
Years of data
32
1970–2016

School life expectancy, primary and secondary, male in Nigeria, 1970–2016

468101970199320161970: 3.5 years1971: 3.7 years1972: 4 years1973: 4.1 years1977: 4.8 years1978: 6 years1979: 7.1 years1980: 7.6 years1981: 8.4 years1982: 9.4 years1983: 10.1 years1984: 10.5 years1986: 8.1 years1987: 7.7 years1989: 7 years1990: 7.5 years1999: 8 years2000: 8.5 years2001: 8.1 years2002: 8.5 years2004: 9.3 years2005: 9.3 years2006: 9.2 years2007: 8.2 years2008: 7.7 years2009: 8 years2010: 8.2 years2011: 8.6 years2012: 8.6 years2013: 9.4 years2014: 8.5 years2016: 8 years

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.

Analysis

Nigeria recorded 8.01 years for school life expectancy, primary and secondary, male in 2016.

That represents a change of down 5.7% on the previous year and down 13.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, male in Nigeria peaked at 10.51 years in 1984 and was at its lowest, 3.49 years, in 1970.

That places Nigeria 182nd out of 193 countries with data for 2016, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 32 years of available data.

School life expectancy, primary and secondary, male in Nigeria, year by year

Annual values for School life expectancy, primary and secondary, male (years) in Nigeria, 1970 to 2016.
Year years Change
1970 3.49 years
1971 3.71 years +6.2%
1972 4.03 years +8.7%
1973 4.14 years +2.6%
1977 4.82 years +16.5%
1978 5.95 years +23.6%
1979 7.06 years +18.6%
1980 7.65 years +8.4%
1981 8.45 years +10.5%
1982 9.45 years +11.8%
1983 10.11 years +7.0%
1984 10.51 years +4.0%
1986 8.05 years -23.4%
1987 7.73 years -4.0%
1989 7.02 years -9.2%
1990 7.47 years +6.4%
1999 8.04 years +7.6%
2000 8.47 years +5.3%
2001 8.11 years -4.2%
2002 8.46 years +4.4%
2004 9.28 years +9.6%
2005 9.25 years -0.2%
2006 9.24 years -0.1%
2007 8.15 years -11.8%
2008 7.71 years -5.4%
2009 7.98 years +3.5%
2010 8.25 years +3.4%
2011 8.57 years +3.9%
2012 8.56 years -0.2%
2013 9.39 years +9.7%
2014 8.5 years -9.5%
2016 8.01 years -5.7%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 4.74 years 3.49 years 7.06 years 7
1980s 8.62 years 7.02 years 10.51 years 8
1990s 7.76 years 7.47 years 8.04 years 2
2000s 8.52 years 7.71 years 9.28 years 9
2010s 8.54 years 8.01 years 9.39 years 6

Countries ranked near Nigeria

  1. 179 Zambia 8.33 years compare
  2. 180 Central African Republic 8.15 years compare
  3. 181 Chad 8.06 years compare
  4. 183 Gambia 7.84 years compare
  5. 184 Senegal 7.66 years compare
  6. 185 Eritrea 7.57 years compare

See the full ranking of 238 places →

More education data for Nigeria

All data for Nigeria →

Frequently asked questions

What is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, male in Nigeria?
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, male in Nigeria was 8.01 years in 2016, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, male recorded in Nigeria?
The highest recorded value was 10.51 years in 1984.
What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, male recorded in Nigeria?
The lowest recorded value was 3.49 years in 1970.
How does Nigeria rank for school life expectancy, primary and secondary, male?
Nigeria ranks 182nd out of 193 countries with data for 2016.
Is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, male rising or falling in Nigeria?
Over the last ten years it is down 13.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Nigeria data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of School life expectancy, primary and secondary, male (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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School life expectancy, primary and secondary, male in Nigeria. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 25 August 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/school-life-expectancy-primary-and-secondary-male-years/nigeria/

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About this data

Indicator
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, male (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.