School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in WB: Sub-saharan Africa
WB: Sub-saharan Africa: School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female was 8.76 years in 2018. ▲ Rising
Latest (2018)
8.76 years
Change on year
up 0.8%
Rank
186th
of 221 groups
All-time high
8.76 years
in 2018
All-time low
3.56 years
in 1970
Years of data
49
1970–2018
School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in WB: Sub-saharan Africa, 1970–2018
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
The most recent figure for school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in WB: Sub-saharan Africa is 8.76 years, measured in 2018. That is the highest value across all 49 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.8% on the previous year and up 12.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in WB: Sub-saharan Africa peaked at 8.76 years in 2018 and was at its lowest, 3.56 years, in 1970.
That places WB: Sub-saharan Africa 186th out of 221 groups with data for 2018, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 49 years of available data.
School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in WB: Sub-saharan Africa, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 3.56 years | — |
| 1971 | 3.6 years | +1.0% |
| 1972 | 3.71 years | +3.3% |
| 1973 | 3.79 years | +2.0% |
| 1974 | 3.94 years | +4.0% |
| 1975 | 4.05 years | +3.0% |
| 1976 | 4.13 years | +1.8% |
| 1977 | 4.35 years | +5.5% |
| 1978 | 4.63 years | +6.4% |
| 1979 | 4.94 years | +6.6% |
| 1980 | 5.17 years | +4.6% |
| 1981 | 5.42 years | +4.9% |
| 1982 | 5.6 years | +3.3% |
| 1983 | 5.61 years | +0.2% |
| 1984 | 5.56 years | -0.8% |
| 1985 | 5.52 years | -0.7% |
| 1986 | 5.4 years | -2.3% |
| 1987 | 5.39 years | -0.1% |
| 1988 | 5.33 years | -1.1% |
| 1989 | 5.41 years | +1.4% |
| 1990 | 5.35 years | -1.0% |
| 1991 | 5.47 years | +2.3% |
| 1992 | 5.47 years | -0.1% |
| 1993 | 5.51 years | +0.7% |
| 1994 | 5.52 years | +0.3% |
| 1995 | 5.56 years | +0.6% |
| 1996 | 5.45 years | -1.9% |
| 1997 | 5.66 years | +3.8% |
| 1998 | 5.79 years | +2.4% |
| 1999 | 5.88 years | +1.6% |
| 2000 | 6.05 years | +2.9% |
| 2001 | 6.2 years | +2.5% |
| 2002 | 6.41 years | +3.2% |
| 2003 | 6.66 years | +3.9% |
| 2004 | 6.93 years | +4.2% |
| 2005 | 7.19 years | +3.7% |
| 2006 | 7.43 years | +3.3% |
| 2007 | 7.53 years | +1.4% |
| 2008 | 7.79 years | +3.3% |
| 2009 | 7.98 years | +2.5% |
| 2010 | 8.12 years | +1.7% |
| 2011 | 8.27 years | +1.8% |
| 2012 | 8.48 years | +2.6% |
| 2013 | 8.72 years | +2.8% |
| 2014 | 8.64 years | -0.9% |
| 2015 | 8.6 years | -0.5% |
| 2016 | 8.6 years | +0.1% |
| 2017 | 8.69 years | +1.0% |
| 2018 | 8.76 years | +0.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 4.07 years | 3.56 years | 4.94 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 5.44 years | 5.17 years | 5.61 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 5.57 years | 5.35 years | 5.88 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 7.02 years | 6.05 years | 7.98 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.54 years | 8.12 years | 8.76 years | 9 |
More education data for WB: Sub-saharan Africa
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 26.37 million (2024)
- Teachers in primary education, both sexes (number), annual growth rate 0.7609 % change on previous year (2024)
- Enrolment in secondary education, female (number), gaps filled 39.08 million (2024)
- Enrolment in secondary education, female (number), annual growth rate 1.55 % change on previous year (2024)
- Enrolment in secondary education, male (number), gaps filled 42.35 million (2024)
- Enrolment in secondary education, male (number), annual growth rate 1.19 % change on previous year (2024)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, both sexes (number) 3.88 % change on previous year (2021)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female (number) 4.63 million (2021)
- Teachers in primary education, female (number), gaps filled 2.54 million (2024)
- Teachers in primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 5.14 million (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in WB: Sub-saharan Africa?
- School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in WB: Sub-saharan Africa was 8.76 years in 2018, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female recorded in WB: Sub-saharan Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 8.76 years in 2018.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female recorded in WB: Sub-saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.56 years in 1970.
- How does WB: Sub-saharan Africa rank for school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female?
- WB: Sub-saharan Africa ranks 186th out of 221 groups with data for 2018.
- Is school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female rising or falling in WB: Sub-saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 12.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this WB: Sub-saharan Africa data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 49 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release