School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Europe & Central Asia
Europe & Central Asia: School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes was 3.59 years in 2019. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Europe & Central Asia, 1970–2019
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
The most recent figure for school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Europe & Central Asia is 3.59 years, measured in 2019. That is the highest value across all 50 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.6% on the previous year and up 25.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Europe & Central Asia peaked at 3.59 years in 2019 and was at its lowest, 1.24 years, in 1970.
That places Europe & Central Asia 5th out of 43 groups with data for 2019, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 50 years of available data.
School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Europe & Central Asia, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 1.24 years | — |
| 1971 | 1.24 years | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 1.25 years | +1.1% |
| 1973 | 1.27 years | +1.5% |
| 1974 | 1.29 years | +1.0% |
| 1975 | 1.31 years | +2.1% |
| 1976 | 1.35 years | +2.5% |
| 1977 | 1.37 years | +1.6% |
| 1978 | 1.38 years | +1.3% |
| 1979 | 1.38 years | -0.3% |
| 1980 | 1.39 years | +0.4% |
| 1981 | 1.39 years | +0.1% |
| 1982 | 1.39 years | +0.5% |
| 1983 | 1.41 years | +0.9% |
| 1984 | 1.43 years | +1.3% |
| 1985 | 1.45 years | +2.0% |
| 1986 | 1.48 years | +1.5% |
| 1987 | 1.5 years | +1.9% |
| 1988 | 1.54 years | +2.3% |
| 1989 | 1.58 years | +2.6% |
| 1990 | 1.62 years | +2.8% |
| 1991 | 1.66 years | +2.2% |
| 1992 | 1.68 years | +1.3% |
| 1993 | 1.71 years | +2.1% |
| 1994 | 1.78 years | +4.1% |
| 1995 | 1.83 years | +2.4% |
| 1996 | 1.9 years | +3.9% |
| 1997 | 1.99 years | +4.7% |
| 1998 | 2.05 years | +3.2% |
| 1999 | 2.14 years | +4.3% |
| 2000 | 2.23 years | +4.4% |
| 2001 | 2.35 years | +5.5% |
| 2002 | 2.46 years | +4.5% |
| 2003 | 2.58 years | +4.8% |
| 2004 | 2.64 years | +2.4% |
| 2005 | 2.71 years | +2.8% |
| 2006 | 2.77 years | +2.1% |
| 2007 | 2.8 years | +1.1% |
| 2008 | 2.83 years | +0.9% |
| 2009 | 2.87 years | +1.5% |
| 2010 | 2.94 years | +2.4% |
| 2011 | 3 years | +1.9% |
| 2012 | 3.04 years | +1.5% |
| 2013 | 3.11 years | +2.4% |
| 2014 | 3.18 years | +2.2% |
| 2015 | 3.26 years | +2.4% |
| 2016 | 3.36 years | +3.1% |
| 2017 | 3.43 years | +1.9% |
| 2018 | 3.56 years | +4.1% |
| 2019 | 3.59 years | +0.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1.31 years | 1.24 years | 1.38 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.45 years | 1.39 years | 1.58 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.84 years | 1.62 years | 2.14 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.62 years | 2.23 years | 2.87 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.25 years | 2.94 years | 3.59 years | 10 |
Countries ranked near Europe & Central Asia
- 2 Türkiye 5.97 years compare
- 3 Puerto Rico 5.45 years compare
- 4 Australia 5.08 years compare
- 5 Grenada 4.98 years compare
- 6 Republic of Korea 4.65 years compare
- 7 Argentina 4.5 years compare
- 8 Macau, China 4.43 years compare
More education data for Europe & Central Asia
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 3.52 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0564 units per person (2024)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -0.0527 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 52.35 million (2024)
- Population ages 15-64 64.3% (2025)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 83.79 million (2024)
- Population ages 0-14 17.2% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Europe & Central Asia?
- School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Europe & Central Asia was 3.59 years in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes recorded in Europe & Central Asia?
- The highest recorded value was 3.59 years in 2019.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes recorded in Europe & Central Asia?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.24 years in 1970.
- How does Europe & Central Asia rank for school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes?
- Europe & Central Asia ranks 5th out of 43 groups with data for 2019.
- Is school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes rising or falling in Europe & Central Asia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 25.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Europe & Central Asia data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Number of years a person of school entrance age can expect to spend within the specified level of education. For a child of a certain age a, the school life expectancy is calculated as the sum of the age specific enrolment rates for the levels of education specified. The part of the enrolment that is not distributed by age is divided by the school-age population for the level of education they are enrolled in, and multiplied by the duration of that level of education. The result is then added to the sum of the age-specific enrolment rates. A relatively high SLE indicates greater probability for children to spend more years in education and higher overall retention within the education system. It must be noted that the expected number of years does not necessarily coincide with the expected number of grades of education completed, because of repetition. Since school life expectancy is an average based on participation in different levels of education, the expected number of years of schooling may be pulled down by the magnitude of children who never go to school. Those children who are in school may benefit from many more years of education than the average.