School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in World
World: School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes was 1.87 years in 2019. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in World, 1970–2019
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
World recorded 1.87 years for school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in 2019. That is the highest value across all 50 years on record.
The figure is up 1.8% on the previous year and up 38.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in World peaked at 1.87 years in 2019 and was at its lowest, 0.4854 years, in 1971.
World ranks 21st of 45 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, tertiary, both sexes in World, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 0.4892 years | — |
| 1971 | 0.4854 years | -0.8% |
| 1972 | 0.4971 years | +2.4% |
| 1973 | 0.5131 years | +3.2% |
| 1974 | 0.528 years | +2.9% |
| 1975 | 0.5499 years | +4.2% |
| 1976 | 0.5715 years | +3.9% |
| 1977 | 0.5687 years | -0.5% |
| 1978 | 0.5716 years | +0.5% |
| 1979 | 0.5729 years | +0.2% |
| 1980 | 0.5789 years | +1.0% |
| 1981 | 0.5911 years | +2.1% |
| 1982 | 0.5958 years | +0.8% |
| 1983 | 0.601 years | +0.9% |
| 1984 | 0.6081 years | +1.2% |
| 1985 | 0.6104 years | +0.4% |
| 1986 | 0.6185 years | +1.3% |
| 1987 | 0.6299 years | +1.8% |
| 1988 | 0.6315 years | +0.3% |
| 1989 | 0.644 years | +2.0% |
| 1990 | 0.6576 years | +2.1% |
| 1991 | 0.6685 years | +1.7% |
| 1992 | 0.6827 years | +2.1% |
| 1993 | 0.7002 years | +2.6% |
| 1994 | 0.7251 years | +3.5% |
| 1995 | 0.7505 years | +3.5% |
| 1996 | 0.7862 years | +4.8% |
| 1997 | 0.8144 years | +3.6% |
| 1998 | 0.836 years | +2.7% |
| 1999 | 0.8671 years | +3.7% |
| 2000 | 0.9035 years | +4.2% |
| 2001 | 0.9532 years | +5.5% |
| 2002 | 1.02 years | +6.9% |
| 2003 | 1.07 years | +5.3% |
| 2004 | 1.12 years | +3.9% |
| 2005 | 1.15 years | +3.0% |
| 2006 | 1.2 years | +4.1% |
| 2007 | 1.24 years | +3.9% |
| 2008 | 1.3 years | +4.8% |
| 2009 | 1.35 years | +3.7% |
| 2010 | 1.42 years | +5.2% |
| 2011 | 1.5 years | +5.8% |
| 2012 | 1.56 years | +3.8% |
| 2013 | 1.59 years | +1.7% |
| 2014 | 1.7 years | +6.8% |
| 2015 | 1.75 years | +3.3% |
| 2016 | 1.78 years | +1.7% |
| 2017 | 1.8 years | +1.1% |
| 2018 | 1.83 years | +1.6% |
| 2019 | 1.87 years | +1.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.5347 years | 0.4854 years | 0.5729 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.6109 years | 0.5789 years | 0.644 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.7488 years | 0.6576 years | 0.8671 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.13 years | 0.9035 years | 1.35 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.68 years | 1.42 years | 1.87 years | 10 |
Countries ranked near World
More education data for World
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 651.68 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 780.85 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 1.43 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0959 units per person (2024)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 34.10 million (2024)
- Population ages 15-64 65.2% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 24.4% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in World?
- School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in World was 1.87 years in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes recorded in World?
- The highest recorded value was 1.87 years in 2019.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes recorded in World?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4854 years in 1971.
- How does World rank for school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes?
- World ranks 21st out of 45 groups with data for 2019.
- Is school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes rising or falling in World?
- Over the last ten years it is up 38.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this World 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.