School life expectancy, primary, both sexes in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: School life expectancy, primary, both sexes was 9.68 years in 2024. β² Rising
School life expectancy, primary, both sexes in Sierra Leone, 1971β2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
Sierra Leone recorded 9.68 years for school life expectancy, primary, both sexes in 2024.
That represents a change of up 1.6% on the previous year and up 34.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary, both sexes in Sierra Leone peaked at 9.74 years in 2022 and was at its lowest, 2.36 years, in 1973.
That places Sierra Leone 2nd out of 212 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 35 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2.58 years | 2.36 years | 2.84 years | 8 |
| 1980s | 3.98 years | 3.63 years | 4.38 years | 9 |
| 1990s | 3.38 years | 3.17 years | 3.58 years | 2 |
| 2000s | 5.63 years | 3.79 years | 8.57 years | 3 |
| 2010s | 7.38 years | 6.82 years | 8.67 years | 8 |
| 2020s | 9.38 years | 8.52 years | 9.74 years | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sierra Leone
- 1 Anguilla, United Kingdom-British Overseas Territory 7.89 years compare
- 1 Haiti 11.16 years compare
- 2 Montserrat 7.57 years compare
- 3 Cook Islands 6.52 years compare
- 3 Rwanda 9.26 years compare
- 4 Namibia 8.68 years compare
- 4 Niue 5.96 years compare
- 5 St. Kitts and Nevis 8.59 years compare
- 5 Saint Helena 5.86 years compare
More education data for Sierra Leone
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 46,575 (2024)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 59.1% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 37.7% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 162.1% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, per capita 0.0054 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary, both sexes in Sierra Leone?
- School life expectancy, primary, both sexes in Sierra Leone was 9.68 years in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, primary, both sexes recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The highest recorded value was 9.74 years in 2022.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary, both sexes recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.36 years in 1973.
- How does Sierra Leone rank for school life expectancy, primary, both sexes?
- Sierra Leone ranks 2nd out of 212 countries with data for 2024.
- Is school life expectancy, primary, both sexes rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
- Over the last ten years it is up 34.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sierra Leone data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of School life expectancy, primary, both sexes (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV Β· JSON β 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release