School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes (years) (both) in Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo: School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes (years) (both) was 8.84 years in 2013. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Democratic Republic of Congo, 1971–2013
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
Democratic Republic of Congo recorded 8.84 years for school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in 2013. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.8% on the previous year and up 22.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 8.84 years in 2013 and was at its lowest, 6.23 years, in 1987.
That places Democratic Republic of Congo 166th out of 186 countries with data for 2013, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes (years) (both) in Democratic Republic of Congo, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 6.75 years | — |
| 1972 | 6.86 years | +1.6% |
| 1973 | 6.53 years | -4.8% |
| 1974 | 6.46 years | -1.1% |
| 1975 | 6.91 years | +6.9% |
| 1976 | 6.69 years | -3.1% |
| 1977 | 6.81 years | +1.7% |
| 1978 | 7.01 years | +3.0% |
| 1979 | 7.43 years | +6.1% |
| 1980 | 7.19 years | -3.3% |
| 1981 | 7.21 years | +0.3% |
| 1982 | 7.24 years | +0.5% |
| 1983 | 7.47 years | +3.1% |
| 1984 | 7.51 years | +0.5% |
| 1985 | 6.98 years | -7.0% |
| 1986 | 6.97 years | -0.2% |
| 1987 | 6.23 years | -10.6% |
| 1988 | 6.58 years | +5.6% |
| 1995 | 6.46 years | -1.8% |
| 2007 | 7.24 years | +12.1% |
| 2008 | 7.93 years | +9.5% |
| 2009 | 8.07 years | +1.8% |
| 2011 | 8.74 years | +8.3% |
| 2012 | 8.6 years | -1.6% |
| 2013 | 8.84 years | +2.8% |
Democratic Republic of Congo compared with similar countries
- Democratic Republic of Congo's 8.84 years is above the median for low income countries, which is 8.16 years, 1.1× the median. (20 countries reporting)
- Democratic Republic of Congo's 8.84 years is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 10.16 years, 87% of the median. (43 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 6.83 years | 6.46 years | 7.43 years | 9 |
| 1980s | 7.04 years | 6.23 years | 7.51 years | 9 |
| 1990s | 6.46 years | 6.46 years | 6.46 years | 1 |
| 2000s | 7.75 years | 7.24 years | 8.07 years | 3 |
| 2010s | 8.73 years | 8.6 years | 8.84 years | 3 |
Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo
More education data for Democratic Republic of Congo
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 621,578 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 1.99 million (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 410,532 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 427,300 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 7.93 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 21.15 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 7.35 % change on previous year (2021)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0003 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1999 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Democratic Republic of Congo was 8.84 years in 2013, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 8.84 years in 2013.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.23 years in 1987.
- How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes?
- Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 166th out of 186 countries with data for 2013.
- Is school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is up 22.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release