School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Belgium

Belgium: School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes was 19.56 years in 2018. ▲ Rising

Latest (2018)
19.56 years
Change on year
down 1.1%
World rank
4th
of 183 countries
All-time high
19.77 years
in 2017
All-time low
12.1 years
in 1973
Years of data
43
1971–2018

School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Belgium, 1971–2018

051015201971199420181971: 12.3 years1972: 12.3 years1973: 12.1 years1974: 12.3 years1975: 12.3 years1978: 12.7 years1979: 12.8 years1980: 12.8 years1981: 12.8 years1982: 13 years1983: 12.9 years1984: 13 years1985: 13.3 years1986: 13.5 years1987: 13.6 years1988: 13.8 years1989: 13.9 years1990: 14 years1991: 14.1 years1993: 16.5 years1994: 16.9 years1995: 17.3 years1996: 17.6 years1999: 17.7 years2000: 17.9 years2001: 18.4 years2002: 18.4 years2003: 18.6 years2004: 18.4 years2005: 18.7 years2006: 18.9 years2007: 19 years2008: 19 years2009: 19 years2010: 19.1 years2011: 19.1 years2012: 19.2 years2013: 19.4 years2014: 19.7 years2015: 19.8 years2016: 19.7 years2017: 19.8 years2018: 19.6 years

Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in years.

Analysis

Belgium recorded 19.56 years for school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in 2018.

That represents a change of down 1.1% on the previous year and up 3.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Belgium peaked at 19.77 years in 2017 and was at its lowest, 12.1 years, in 1973.

Belgium ranks 4th of 183 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 to tertiary, both sexes in Belgium, year by year

Annual values for School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes (years) in Belgium, 1971 to 2018.
Year years Change
1971 12.28 years
1972 12.33 years +0.4%
1973 12.1 years -1.8%
1974 12.32 years +1.8%
1975 12.31 years -0.1%
1978 12.72 years +3.4%
1979 12.79 years +0.5%
1980 12.81 years +0.2%
1981 12.81 years +0.0%
1982 12.99 years +1.4%
1983 12.87 years -1.0%
1984 13.04 years +1.4%
1985 13.29 years +1.9%
1986 13.47 years +1.3%
1987 13.62 years +1.2%
1988 13.8 years +1.3%
1989 13.94 years +1.0%
1990 14.03 years +0.7%
1991 14.07 years +0.3%
1993 16.54 years +17.6%
1994 16.85 years +1.9%
1995 17.26 years +2.4%
1996 17.59 years +1.9%
1999 17.74 years +0.8%
2000 17.92 years +1.1%
2001 18.38 years +2.6%
2002 18.43 years +0.3%
2003 18.61 years +1.0%
2004 18.36 years -1.3%
2005 18.71 years +1.9%
2006 18.94 years +1.2%
2007 18.97 years +0.1%
2008 18.99 years +0.1%
2009 19.01 years +0.1%
2010 19.07 years +0.3%
2011 19.13 years +0.3%
2012 19.23 years +0.5%
2013 19.42 years +1.0%
2014 19.7 years +1.4%
2015 19.76 years +0.3%
2016 19.7 years -0.3%
2017 19.77 years +0.4%
2018 19.56 years -1.1%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 12.41 years 12.1 years 12.79 years 7
1980s 13.27 years 12.81 years 13.94 years 10
1990s 16.3 years 14.03 years 17.74 years 7
2000s 18.63 years 17.92 years 19.01 years 10
2010s 19.48 years 19.07 years 19.77 years 9

Countries ranked near Belgium

  1. 1 Australia 20.51 years compare
  2. 2 Ireland 19.76 years compare
  3. 3 Sweden 19.69 years compare
  4. 5 Greece 19.5 years compare
  5. 6 Finland 19.48 years compare
  6. 7 Iceland 19.18 years compare

See the full ranking of 228 places →

More education data for Belgium

All data for Belgium →

Frequently asked questions

What is school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Belgium?
School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Belgium was 19.56 years in 2018, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
What is the highest school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes recorded in Belgium?
The highest recorded value was 19.77 years in 2017.
What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes recorded in Belgium?
The lowest recorded value was 12.1 years in 1973.
How does Belgium rank for school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes?
Belgium ranks 4th out of 183 countries with data for 2018.
Is school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes rising or falling in Belgium?
Over the last ten years it is up 3.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Belgium data come from?
The figures come from Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 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 — 43 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Belgium. Statizoid, drawing on Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Retrieved 26 August 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/school-life-expectancy-primary-to-tertiary-both-sexes-years/belgium/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://education.statizoid.com/stat/school-life-expectancy-primary-to-tertiary-both-sexes-years/belgium/">School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Belgium</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes (years)
Unit
years
Source
Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
228 places, 7,038 data points, 1970–2019
Last refreshed

Expected years of schooling is the number of years a child of school entrance age is expected to spend at school, or university, including years spent on repetition. It is the sum of the age-specific enrolment ratios for primary, secondary, post-secondary non-tertiary and tertiary education.