School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in World
World: School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes was 12.35 years in 2019. β² Rising
School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in World, 1970β2019
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in years.
Analysis
The most recent figure for school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in World is 12.35 years, measured in 2019. That is the highest value across all 50 years on record.
The figure is up 0.6% on the previous year and up 9.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in World peaked at 12.35 years in 2019 and was at its lowest, 7.59 years, in 1970.
World ranks 23rd of 43 regions on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 50 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 8.07 years | 7.59 years | 8.48 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 8.79 years | 8.51 years | 9.07 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 9.34 years | 9.04 years | 9.64 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 10.53 years | 9.82 years | 11.25 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 12.05 years | 11.45 years | 12.35 years | 10 |
Countries ranked near World
More education data for World
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 34.10 million (2024)
- Population ages 15-64 65.2% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 24.4% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 102.2% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, per capita 0.0042 units per person (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 34.10 million (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 101.5% (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, male 102.8% (2024)
- Labor force, total, per capita 0.4548 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in World?
- School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in World was 12.35 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 World?
- The highest recorded value was 12.35 years in 2019.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes recorded in World?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.59 years in 1970.
- How does World rank for school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes?
- World ranks 23rd out of 43 regions with data for 2019.
- Is school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes rising or falling in World?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this World 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 Β· JSON β 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.