School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Ireland
Ireland: School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes was 19.76 years in 2018. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Ireland, 1971–2018
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in years.
Analysis
Ireland recorded 19.76 years for school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in 2018. That is the highest value across all 47 years on record.
That represents a change of up 5.6% on the previous year and up 14.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Ireland peaked at 19.76 years in 2018 and was at its lowest, 11.02 years, in 1971.
That places Ireland 2nd out of 183 countries with data for 2018, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 47 years of available data.
School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Ireland, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 11.02 years | — |
| 1972 | 11.05 years | +0.3% |
| 1973 | 11.26 years | +2.0% |
| 1974 | 11.31 years | +0.4% |
| 1975 | 11.57 years | +2.3% |
| 1976 | 11.85 years | +2.4% |
| 1977 | 11.92 years | +0.6% |
| 1978 | 11.92 years | -0.0% |
| 1979 | 11.86 years | -0.5% |
| 1980 | 11.78 years | -0.6% |
| 1981 | 11.79 years | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 11.9 years | +1.0% |
| 1983 | 12 years | +0.9% |
| 1984 | 11.89 years | -1.0% |
| 1985 | 11.96 years | +0.6% |
| 1986 | 12.15 years | +1.5% |
| 1987 | 12.27 years | +1.0% |
| 1988 | 12.33 years | +0.5% |
| 1989 | 12.34 years | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 12.35 years | +0.1% |
| 1991 | 12.37 years | +0.2% |
| 1992 | 12.56 years | +1.5% |
| 1993 | 13.04 years | +3.8% |
| 1994 | 13.26 years | +1.7% |
| 1995 | 13.33 years | +0.5% |
| 1996 | 13.36 years | +0.3% |
| 1997 | 13.58 years | +1.6% |
| 1998 | 16.17 years | +19.1% |
| 1999 | 16.33 years | +0.9% |
| 2000 | 16.43 years | +0.6% |
| 2001 | 16.56 years | +0.8% |
| 2002 | 16.81 years | +1.5% |
| 2003 | 16.98 years | +1.0% |
| 2004 | 17.24 years | +1.5% |
| 2005 | 17.24 years | -0.0% |
| 2006 | 16.97 years | -1.6% |
| 2007 | 17.01 years | +0.3% |
| 2008 | 17.26 years | +1.5% |
| 2009 | 17.04 years | -1.3% |
| 2010 | 17.46 years | +2.5% |
| 2011 | 17.94 years | +2.7% |
| 2012 | 17.96 years | +0.1% |
| 2014 | 18.18 years | +1.3% |
| 2015 | 18.71 years | +2.9% |
| 2016 | 18.79 years | +0.5% |
| 2017 | 18.71 years | -0.5% |
| 2018 | 19.76 years | +5.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 11.53 years | 11.02 years | 11.92 years | 9 |
| 1980s | 12.04 years | 11.78 years | 12.34 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 13.63 years | 12.35 years | 16.33 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 16.95 years | 16.43 years | 17.26 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 18.44 years | 17.46 years | 19.76 years | 8 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More education data for Ireland
- Theoretical duration of upper secondary education (years), annual 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of secondary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), gaps filled 2,021 tertiary education (2022)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), annual growth 0.0495 % change on previous year (2022)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 42,162 (2023)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 2 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 65.7% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 18.1% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Ireland?
- School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Ireland was 19.76 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 Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 19.76 years in 2018.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 11.02 years in 1971.
- How does Ireland rank for school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes?
- Ireland ranks 2nd out of 183 countries with data for 2018.
- Is school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 14.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Ireland 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 — 47 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
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.