Statizoid

School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes (years) by country

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...

Countries reporting
187
Highest
3.89 years
Sweden
Lowest
0.0077 years
Somalia
Median
1.67 years
Years covered
51
1970–2020
Data points
7,887

What the numbers show

School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes (years) is currently reported for 187 countries. The highest value is 3.89 years in Sweden; the lowest is 0.0077 years in Somalia.

The median across all reporting countries is 1.67 years, and the mean is 1.69 years.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 507.

Over the past decade 129 countries rose and 51 fell. The largest increase was in Mozambique (up 2,534.5%), and the largest decrease in Nauru (down 63.8%).

School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Sweden 3.89 years 2018 down 0.0% rising
2 Liberia 3.88 years 2017 — volatile
3 Latvia 3.81 years 2018 up 9.9% rising
4 Estonia 3.7 years 2018 down 5.2% rising
5 Lithuania 3.53 years 2018 up 15.8% rising
6 Poland 3.51 years 2018 up 44.7% rising
7 Moldova 3.51 years 2019 up 17.8% rising
8 Mongolia 3.48 years 2018 up 52.8% volatile
9 Russia 3.46 years 2018 up 13.6% rising
10 Hungary 3.44 years 2018 up 0.2% rising
11 Belgium 3.44 years 2018 down 2.5% rising
12 Finland 3.41 years 2018 up 31.4% rising
13 Israel 3.34 years 2018 up 10.8% rising
14 Czechia 3.28 years 2018 up 2.3% rising
15 Germany 3.26 years 2018 up 1.3% rising
16 Bulgaria 3.19 years 2018 down 2.8% rising
17 France 3.19 years 2018 down 2.1% rising
18 Peru 3.18 years 2019 up 36.4% volatile
19 Austria 3.1 years 2018 up 10.6% rising
20 Hong Kong 3.04 years 2019 down 11.3% rising
21 French Polynesia 3.01 years 1996 up 5.7% rising
22 Denmark 2.99 years 2018 down 22.1% volatile
23 Belarus 2.97 years 2018 down 4.8% rising
24 Slovakia 2.92 years 2018 up 5.0% rising
25 Cuba 2.92 years 2019 down 8.1% volatile
26 Norway 2.88 years 2018 up 1.3% rising
27 Iceland 2.87 years 2018 down 1.8% rising
28 Vietnam 2.87 years 2019 up 36.6% rising
29 Spain 2.87 years 2018 down 1.9% rising
30 Uruguay 2.85 years 2018 up 8.8% rising
31 San Marino 2.83 years 2019 down 20.8% rising
32 Italy 2.81 years 2018 down 5.9% rising
33 South Korea 2.81 years 2018 up 0.7% volatile
34 Slovenia 2.77 years 2018 up 8.7% rising
35 Croatia 2.77 years 2018 up 27.5% rising
37 Macao 2.72 years 2019 up 7.3% rising
38 Portugal 2.72 years 2018 up 11.1% volatile
39 Solomon Islands 2.69 years 2018 down 11.9% volatile
40 China 2.67 years 2019 up 77.7% volatile
41 Netherlands 2.67 years 2018 down 0.8% rising
42 Romania 2.65 years 2018 down 14.6% rising
43 Maldives 2.58 years 2019 down 3.1% volatile
44 Cyprus 2.55 years 2018 up 2.5% rising
45 Serbia 2.55 years 2019 up 25.0% rising
46 Ukraine 2.52 years 2013 up 10.6% rising
47 Kazakhstan 2.49 years 2019 up 59.6% falling
48 Tuvalu 2.49 years 2019 down 15.9% falling
49 Chile 2.46 years 2018 up 47.2% volatile
50 Ghana 2.36 years 2019 down 1.0% volatile
51 Colombia 2.36 years 2018 up 50.3% volatile
52 Thailand 2.35 years 2019 up 10.0% volatile
53 Gibraltar 2.33 years 2019 — volatile
54 Jamaica 2.3 years 2019 down 14.8% rising
55 Albania 2.3 years 2019 up 25.9% rising
56 Argentina 2.29 years 2017 up 17.6% rising
57 Kenya 2.27 years 2016 up 59.0% rising
58 Montenegro 2.21 years 2019 up 82.3% rising
59 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2.21 years 2018 up 31.1% rising
60 Cape Verde 2.2 years 2018 up 6.0% rising
62 Turks and Caicos Islands 2.19 years 2018 up 12.4% rising
63 Mexico 2.19 years 2018 up 3.8% rising
64 United States 2.16 years 2018 up 2.9% rising
65 United Kingdom 2.14 years 2018 up 34.4% rising
66 Palau 2.14 years 2014 down 19.2% rising
67 Aruba 2.12 years 2014 up 7.7% rising
68 Venezuela 2.09 years 2017 up 12.8% rising
69 American Samoa 2.05 years 1992 up 5.1% rising
70 Switzerland 2.04 years 2018 up 0.8% rising
72 Grenada 2.01 years 2018 down 9.2% rising
73 El Salvador 2 years 2018 up 16.8% volatile
74 Ecuador 1.99 years 2018 up 66.0% volatile
75 Malaysia 1.96 years 2019 up 27.4% rising
76 Mauritius 1.95 years 2019 down 1.3% rising
77 Costa Rica 1.91 years 2019 up 24.2% volatile
78 Guyana 1.91 years 2012 up 7.6% rising
79 Seychelles 1.91 years 2019 down 8.8% rising
80 Brunei 1.9 years 2019 down 3.7% rising
81 British Virgin Islands 1.89 years 2018 up 1.0% rising
82 India 1.88 years 2019 — volatile
83 New Zealand 1.88 years 2018 — rising
84 Suriname 1.88 years 2019 up 12.0% flat
86 Vanuatu 1.83 years 2015 down 19.9% volatile
87 Qatar 1.82 years 2019 up 9.7% volatile
88 Saint Kitts and Nevis 1.81 years 2016 down 24.1% rising
89 Cayman Islands 1.78 years 2018 up 44.0% rising
90 Papua New Guinea 1.78 years 2016 up 85.5% volatile
91 Gambia 1.76 years 2019 up 56.5% rising
92 Nepal 1.75 years 2019 up 27.1% volatile
93 Georgia 1.73 years 2008 up 50.7% rising
94 Barbados 1.71 years 2019 up 5.0% rising
95 Dominican Republic 1.71 years 2019 up 42.4% volatile
96 Dominica 1.71 years 2019 down 13.7% rising
97 Trinidad and Tobago 1.7 years 2019 up 2.4% rising
98 Nicaragua 1.67 years 2010 up 37.0% volatile
99 Australia 1.66 years 2018 up 103.5% rising
100 Puerto Rico 1.64 years 2013 — volatile
101 Pakistan 1.64 years 2019 up 12.3% rising
102 Lebanon 1.63 years 1985 down 17.4% falling
103 Kyrgyzstan 1.62 years 2019 up 121.1% rising
104 Bahrain 1.56 years 2019 up 6.9% volatile
105 United Arab Emirates 1.56 years 2017 down 8.1% rising
106 Greece 1.54 years 2018 up 17.2% rising
107 Sao Tome and Principe 1.51 years 2016 up 34.9% rising
108 Bolivia 1.49 years 2018 up 52.5% rising
109 Guatemala 1.48 years 2019 up 0.3% rising
110 Laos 1.45 years 2019 up 169.7% volatile
111 Saint Lucia 1.45 years 2019 down 9.4% rising
112 Antigua and Barbuda 1.4 years 2018 down 17.1% volatile
113 United States Virgin Islands 1.4 years 1993 up 12.9% rising
114 Sri Lanka 1.37 years 2018 up 16.7% rising
115 Tunisia 1.34 years 2016 up 121.3% volatile
116 Uzbekistan 1.32 years 2019 up 28.2% falling
117 Paraguay 1.31 years 2016 up 24.5% volatile
118 Canada 1.29 years 1996 up 11.4% rising
119 Equatorial Guinea 1.27 years 2015 up 5.0% rising
120 North Macedonia 1.26 years 2018 up 93.8% flat
121 Panama 1.25 years 2017 down 9.5% volatile
122 Indonesia 1.24 years 2018 up 42.1% volatile
123 Bangladesh 1.22 years 2018 up 265.9% volatile
124 Azerbaijan 1.22 years 2019 up 73.5% rising
125 Madagascar 1.21 years 2019 up 324.8% volatile
126 Kuwait 1.21 years 2019 down 28.1% rising
127 Honduras 1.2 years 2019 up 7.0% volatile
128 Armenia 1.18 years 2019 down 20.5% falling
129 Lesotho 1.17 years 2016 up 29.2% rising
130 Oman 1.12 years 2019 up 22.7% volatile
131 Turkey 1.1 years 2018 up 106.3% volatile
132 Morocco 1.1 years 2019 down 6.9% rising
133 Palestine 1.09 years 2019 up 35.8% rising
134 Nauru 1.03 years 2019 down 63.8% rising
135 Philippines 1 years 2018 up 118.3% volatile
136 Zimbabwe 0.9563 years 2013 down 29.5% falling
137 Belize 0.9557 years 2019 up 22.2% rising
138 Sudan 0.9325 years 2017 up 94.1% rising
139 Tonga 0.9163 years 2015 up 113.0% rising
140 Ethiopia 0.8854 years 2015 up 1,346.0% volatile
141 Micronesia (country) 0.869 years 2019 — volatile
142 Marshall Islands 0.8689 years 2019 down 6.9% falling
143 Eswatini 0.8363 years 2011 — volatile
144 Tanzania 0.8254 years 2019 up 25.1% rising
145 Rwanda 0.8238 years 2019 up 55.5% rising
146 Angola 0.8134 years 2016 down 40.2% rising
147 Samoa 0.8119 years 2019 down 2.4% rising
148 Algeria 0.786 years 2011 up 1,060.9% volatile
149 East Timor 0.7591 years 2019 up 226.1% rising
150 Togo 0.7553 years 2019 up 254.8% volatile
151 Cambodia 0.7522 years 2019 up 88.1% volatile
152 Cameroon 0.7075 years 2019 up 50.5% volatile
153 South Africa 0.7055 years 2018 up 16.3% rising
154 Namibia 0.6892 years 2018 up 8.1% volatile
155 Bermuda 0.6875 years 2015 up 33.9% falling
156 Bahamas 0.6766 years 2018 down 5.7% rising
157 Comoros 0.6562 years 2018 down 11.3% volatile
158 Bhutan 0.6537 years 2020 up 1,257.4% volatile
159 Saudi Arabia 0.648 years 2019 up 87.8% rising
160 Botswana 0.6448 years 2015 up 33.9% rising
161 Egypt 0.5918 years 2019 up 28.0% volatile
162 Sierra Leone 0.5765 years 2019 up 207.5% rising
163 Jordan 0.5746 years 2019 down 8.8% rising
164 Iran 0.5379 years 2016 up 7.5% volatile
165 Fiji 0.5355 years 2009 up 15.8% rising
166 Senegal 0.5072 years 2019 up 49.9% volatile
167 Benin 0.4886 years 2019 up 80.1% volatile
168 Eritrea 0.4643 years 2018 down 0.0% volatile
169 Guinea 0.4556 years 2011 up 270.6% volatile
170 Uganda 0.4322 years 2017 up 29.6% rising
171 Nigeria 0.4183 years 2010 up 63.9% rising
172 Congo 0.396 years 2012 up 155.7% volatile
173 Tajikistan 0.3946 years 2017 up 8.5% falling
174 Burundi 0.3238 years 2019 up 39.4% volatile
175 Cote d'Ivoire 0.2509 years 2019 up 142.2% volatile
176 Niger 0.2283 years 2019 up 169.8% volatile
177 Djibouti 0.2108 years 2020 up 230.3% volatile
178 Mali 0.2044 years 2018 up 51.1% rising
179 Guinea-Bissau 0.1986 years 2010 up 80.6% volatile
180 Libya 0.1962 years 2006 up 124.3% rising
181 Myanmar 0.1703 years 2018 up 60.9% rising
182 Democratic Republic of Congo 0.1703 years 2018 up 68.4% volatile
183 Syria 0.1695 years 2013 down 41.4% rising
184 Burkina Faso 0.1655 years 2019 up 96.8% volatile
185 Iraq 0.1329 years 2007 down 1.8% rising
186 Mozambique 0.1162 years 1986 up 2,534.5% volatile
187 Central African Republic 0.0881 years 2017 down 6.7% falling
188 Yemen 0.0482 years 2016 up 65.5% rising
189 Chad 0.0333 years 2019 down 35.2% rising
190 Afghanistan 0.0308 years 2003 down 39.9% volatile
191 Somalia 0.0077 years 1986 down 14.1% volatile

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

About this data

Indicator
School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes (years)
Unit
years
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
236 places, 7,887 data points, 1970–2020
Last refreshed

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.