School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Middle income
Middle income: School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes was 12.42 years in 2019. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Middle income, 1970–2019
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in years.
Analysis
In 2019, school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Middle income stood at 12.42 years. That is the highest value across all 50 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.8% on the previous year and up 12.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Middle income peaked at 12.42 years in 2019 and was at its lowest, 6.97 years, in 1970.
Middle income ranks 23rd of 43 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 50 years of available data.
School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Middle income, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 6.97 years | — |
| 1971 | 7.08 years | +1.6% |
| 1972 | 7.25 years | +2.4% |
| 1973 | 7.51 years | +3.5% |
| 1974 | 7.56 years | +0.7% |
| 1975 | 7.68 years | +1.5% |
| 1976 | 7.83 years | +2.0% |
| 1977 | 8.05 years | +2.8% |
| 1978 | 8.12 years | +0.9% |
| 1979 | 8.11 years | -0.1% |
| 1980 | 8.12 years | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 8.17 years | +0.7% |
| 1982 | 8.21 years | +0.5% |
| 1983 | 8.3 years | +1.1% |
| 1984 | 8.39 years | +1.1% |
| 1985 | 8.52 years | +1.5% |
| 1986 | 8.63 years | +1.3% |
| 1987 | 8.67 years | +0.5% |
| 1988 | 8.73 years | +0.7% |
| 1989 | 8.78 years | +0.6% |
| 1990 | 8.78 years | -0.1% |
| 1991 | 8.85 years | +0.9% |
| 1992 | 8.92 years | +0.8% |
| 1993 | 9.01 years | +0.9% |
| 1994 | 9.05 years | +0.4% |
| 1995 | 9.08 years | +0.3% |
| 1996 | 9.16 years | +0.9% |
| 1997 | 9.23 years | +0.8% |
| 1998 | 9.27 years | +0.5% |
| 1999 | 9.36 years | +0.9% |
| 2000 | 9.57 years | +2.3% |
| 2001 | 9.63 years | +0.6% |
| 2002 | 9.81 years | +1.9% |
| 2003 | 10.07 years | +2.6% |
| 2004 | 10.27 years | +2.0% |
| 2005 | 10.46 years | +1.8% |
| 2006 | 10.59 years | +1.3% |
| 2007 | 10.8 years | +2.0% |
| 2008 | 10.98 years | +1.6% |
| 2009 | 11.08 years | +0.9% |
| 2010 | 11.32 years | +2.2% |
| 2011 | 11.58 years | +2.3% |
| 2012 | 11.75 years | +1.5% |
| 2013 | 11.95 years | +1.7% |
| 2014 | 12.08 years | +1.0% |
| 2015 | 12.19 years | +1.0% |
| 2016 | 12.34 years | +1.2% |
| 2017 | 12.36 years | +0.1% |
| 2018 | 12.32 years | -0.3% |
| 2019 | 12.42 years | +0.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 7.62 years | 6.97 years | 8.12 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 8.45 years | 8.12 years | 8.78 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 9.07 years | 8.78 years | 9.36 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 10.33 years | 9.57 years | 11.08 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 12.03 years | 11.32 years | 12.42 years | 10 |
Countries ranked near Middle income
More education data for Middle income
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 25.11 million (2024)
- Population ages 0-14 24.4% (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 66.5% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 103.3% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, per capita 0.0042 units per person (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 25.11 million (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 103.1% (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, male 103.5% (2024)
- Labor force, total, per capita 0.4541 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Middle income?
- School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Middle income was 12.42 years in 2019, 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 Middle income?
- The highest recorded value was 12.42 years in 2019.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes recorded in Middle income?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.97 years in 1970.
- How does Middle income rank for school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes?
- Middle income ranks 23rd out of 43 groups with data for 2019.
- Is school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes rising or falling in Middle income?
- Over the last ten years it is up 12.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Middle income 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 — 50 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.