School life expectancy, primary, female (years) (life female years) in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: School life expectancy, primary, female (years) (life female years) was 7.32 years in 2023. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, primary, female in Papua New Guinea, 1970–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
The most recent figure for school life expectancy, primary, female in Papua New Guinea is 7.32 years, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 43 years on record.
The figure is up 11.3% on the previous year and up 21.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary, female in Papua New Guinea peaked at 7.32 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 2.24 years, in 1972.
Papua New Guinea ranks 20th of 215 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 43 years of available data.
School life expectancy, primary, female (years) (life female years) in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 2.28 years | — |
| 1971 | 2.26 years | -0.8% |
| 1972 | 2.24 years | -0.7% |
| 1973 | 2.28 years | +1.8% |
| 1974 | 2.35 years | +3.1% |
| 1975 | 2.46 years | +4.8% |
| 1976 | 2.53 years | +2.7% |
| 1977 | 2.57 years | +1.7% |
| 1978 | 2.7 years | +5.0% |
| 1979 | 2.89 years | +7.0% |
| 1981 | 3.15 years | +8.8% |
| 1982 | 3.3 years | +4.7% |
| 1984 | 3.62 years | +9.9% |
| 1986 | 3.8 years | +4.8% |
| 1987 | 3.87 years | +2.0% |
| 1988 | 3.95 years | +2.0% |
| 1989 | 4.05 years | +2.5% |
| 1990 | 3.99 years | -1.3% |
| 1991 | 3.96 years | -0.9% |
| 1992 | 4.01 years | +1.3% |
| 1993 | 4.2 years | +4.8% |
| 1994 | 4.27 years | +1.6% |
| 1995 | 4.24 years | -0.6% |
| 1996 | 4.12 years | -2.9% |
| 1997 | 4.11 years | -0.2% |
| 1998 | 4.3 years | +4.7% |
| 2000 | 3.92 years | -8.9% |
| 2001 | 3.55 years | -9.6% |
| 2002 | 3.39 years | -4.3% |
| 2003 | 3.21 years | -5.3% |
| 2004 | 3.22 years | +0.2% |
| 2005 | 3.24 years | +0.6% |
| 2006 | 3.15 years | -2.7% |
| 2008 | 3.44 years | +9.4% |
| 2012 | 6.01 years | +74.6% |
| 2014 | 6.41 years | +6.6% |
| 2016 | 6.23 years | -2.7% |
| 2018 | 6.59 years | +5.8% |
| 2019 | 6.36 years | -3.6% |
| 2020 | 6.15 years | -3.3% |
| 2021 | 6.5 years | +5.8% |
| 2022 | 6.58 years | +1.1% |
| 2023 | 7.32 years | +11.3% |
Papua New Guinea compared with similar countries
- Papua New Guinea's 7.32 years is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 5.99 years, 1.2× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Papua New Guinea's 7.32 years is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 5.98 years, 1.2× the median. (34 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where School life expectancy, primary, female (years) (life female years) in Papua New Guinea changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | +74.6% | 3.44 years | 6.01 years |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2.46 years | 2.24 years | 2.89 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 3.68 years | 3.15 years | 4.05 years | 7 |
| 1990s | 4.13 years | 3.96 years | 4.3 years | 9 |
| 2000s | 3.39 years | 3.15 years | 3.92 years | 8 |
| 2010s | 6.32 years | 6.01 years | 6.59 years | 5 |
| 2020s | 6.64 years | 6.15 years | 7.32 years | 4 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
- 17 Uganda 7.49 years compare
- 18 Turks and Caicos Islands 7.39 years compare
- 19 Montserrat 7.36 years compare
- 21 American Samoa 7.3 years compare
- 22 East Timor 7.26 years compare
- 23 Sweden 6.98 years compare
More education data for Papua New Guinea
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 14,791 (2016)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 80,915 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 226,545 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 208,353 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 655,030 (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.65 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 10.31 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1593 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary, female in Papua New Guinea?
- School life expectancy, primary, female in Papua New Guinea was 7.32 years in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, primary, female recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 7.32 years in 2023.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary, female recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.24 years in 1972.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for school life expectancy, primary, female?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 20th out of 215 countries with data for 2023.
- Is school life expectancy, primary, female rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 21.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of School life expectancy, primary, female (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 43 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release