School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Spain
Spain: School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes was 4.17 years in 2018. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Spain, 1971–2018
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
The most recent figure for school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Spain is 4.17 years, measured in 2018. That is the highest value across all 48 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 3.1% on the previous year and up 38.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Spain peaked at 4.17 years in 2018 and was at its lowest, 0.4333 years, in 1971.
Spain ranks 15th of 183 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 48 years of available data.
School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Spain, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 0.4333 years | — |
| 1972 | 0.4823 years | +11.3% |
| 1973 | 0.7065 years | +46.5% |
| 1974 | 0.7699 years | +9.0% |
| 1975 | 0.8418 years | +9.3% |
| 1976 | 0.9751 years | +15.8% |
| 1977 | 1.02 years | +4.3% |
| 1978 | 1.13 years | +10.7% |
| 1979 | 1.04 years | -7.4% |
| 1980 | 1.1 years | +5.7% |
| 1981 | 1.1 years | +0.1% |
| 1982 | 1.13 years | +2.0% |
| 1983 | 1.16 years | +2.8% |
| 1984 | 1.24 years | +7.2% |
| 1985 | 1.31 years | +5.4% |
| 1986 | 1.43 years | +9.2% |
| 1987 | 1.49 years | +4.6% |
| 1988 | 1.59 years | +6.3% |
| 1989 | 1.69 years | +6.2% |
| 1990 | 1.78 years | +5.5% |
| 1991 | 1.85 years | +4.2% |
| 1992 | 1.96 years | +6.0% |
| 1993 | 2.06 years | +4.9% |
| 1994 | 2.2 years | +6.9% |
| 1995 | 2.29 years | +3.8% |
| 1996 | 2.38 years | +4.3% |
| 1997 | 2.53 years | +6.0% |
| 1998 | 2.64 years | +4.5% |
| 1999 | 2.73 years | +3.2% |
| 2000 | 2.82 years | +3.3% |
| 2001 | 2.87 years | +1.8% |
| 2002 | 2.88 years | +0.5% |
| 2003 | 2.93 years | +1.6% |
| 2004 | 2.96 years | +1.2% |
| 2005 | 2.95 years | -0.2% |
| 2006 | 2.98 years | +0.8% |
| 2007 | 2.97 years | -0.2% |
| 2008 | 3 years | +1.1% |
| 2009 | 3.06 years | +1.9% |
| 2010 | 3.23 years | +5.5% |
| 2011 | 3.4 years | +5.2% |
| 2012 | 3.55 years | +4.5% |
| 2013 | 3.67 years | +3.2% |
| 2014 | 3.78 years | +3.2% |
| 2015 | 3.84 years | +1.4% |
| 2016 | 3.91 years | +2.0% |
| 2017 | 4.05 years | +3.4% |
| 2018 | 4.17 years | +3.1% |
Spain compared with similar countries
- Spain's 4.17 years is above the median for high income countries, which is 3.2 years, 1.3× the median. (64 countries reporting)
- Spain's 4.17 years is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 3.15 years, 1.3× the median. (49 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Spain changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | +46.5% | 0.4823 years | 0.7065 years |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.8215 years | 0.4333 years | 1.13 years | 9 |
| 1980s | 1.32 years | 1.1 years | 1.69 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.24 years | 1.78 years | 2.73 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.94 years | 2.82 years | 3.06 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.73 years | 3.23 years | 4.17 years | 9 |
Countries ranked near Spain
- 12 Netherlands 4.24 years compare
- 13 Russia 4.23 years compare
- 14 New Zealand 4.19 years compare
- 16 Denmark 4.11 years compare
- 17 Norway 4.06 years compare
- 18 United States 3.99 years compare
More education data for Spain
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 344,203 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 37,817 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 570,954 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 538,977 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 3.71 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.83 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.08 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.058 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Spain?
- School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Spain was 4.17 years in 2018, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes recorded in Spain?
- The highest recorded value was 4.17 years in 2018.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes recorded in Spain?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4333 years in 1971.
- How does Spain rank for school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes?
- Spain ranks 15th out of 183 countries with data for 2018.
- Is school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes rising or falling in Spain?
- Over the last ten years it is up 38.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Spain 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.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 48 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
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.