School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in India

India: School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes was 1.88 years in 2019. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2019)
1.88 years
Change on year
up 3.6%
World rank
82nd
of 191 countries
All-time high
1.88 years
in 2019
All-time low
0.0224 years
in 1971
Years of data
27
1971–2019

School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in India, 1971–2019

00.511.521971199520191971: 0.022 years1972: 0.025 years1973: 0.028 years1975: 0.03 years1976: 0.033 years1977: 0.038 years1978: 0.038 years1981: 0.048 years1982: 0.043 years1983: 0.051 years1984: 0.048 years1985: 0.05 years1986: 0.058 years1987: 0.058 years1988: 0.064 years1989: 0.063 years1990: 0.058 years1991: 0.064 years1992: 0.06 years1993: 0.061 years1994: 0.08 years1995: 0.087 years1996: 0.088 years1997: 0.097 years2017: 1.8 years2018: 1.8 years2019: 1.9 years

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.

Analysis

In 2019, school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in India stood at 1.88 years. That is the highest value across all 27 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 3.6% on the previous year.

Over the whole period, school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in India peaked at 1.88 years in 2019 and was at its lowest, 0.0224 years, in 1971.

India ranks 82nd of 191 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in India, year by year

Annual values for School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes (years) in India, 1971 to 2019.
Year years Change
1971 0.0224 years
1972 0.0255 years +13.7%
1973 0.0277 years +8.6%
1975 0.0304 years +10.0%
1976 0.0327 years +7.6%
1977 0.0377 years +15.2%
1978 0.0379 years +0.4%
1981 0.0477 years +26.0%
1982 0.0425 years -10.9%
1983 0.0508 years +19.6%
1984 0.0478 years -5.9%
1985 0.0495 years +3.5%
1986 0.0582 years +17.4%
1987 0.0583 years +0.3%
1988 0.0635 years +8.9%
1989 0.0629 years -1.0%
1990 0.0581 years -7.6%
1991 0.0643 years +10.6%
1992 0.0604 years -6.1%
1993 0.061 years +1.1%
1994 0.0805 years +31.9%
1995 0.0874 years +8.6%
1996 0.088 years +0.7%
1997 0.0969 years +10.1%
2017 1.82 years +1773.4%
2018 1.82 years +0.2%
2019 1.88 years +3.6%

India compared with similar countries

  • India's 1.88 years is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 1.09 years, 1.7× the median. (43 countries reporting)
  • India's 1.88 years is above the median for South Asia, which is 1.56 years, 1.2× the median. (6 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in India 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.

YearChange FromTo
2017 +1773.4% 0.0969 years 1.82 years

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 0.0306 years 0.0224 years 0.0379 years 7
1980s 0.0535 years 0.0425 years 0.0635 years 9
1990s 0.0746 years 0.0581 years 0.0969 years 8
2010s 1.84 years 1.82 years 1.88 years 3

Countries ranked near India

  1. 79 Seychelles 1.91 years compare
  2. 80 Brunei 1.9 years compare
  3. 81 British Virgin Islands 1.89 years compare
  4. 83 New Zealand 1.88 years compare
  5. 84 Suriname 1.88 years compare
  6. 85 Ireland 1.87 years compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More reference data data for India

All data for India →

Frequently asked questions

What is school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in India?
School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in India was 1.88 years in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes recorded in India?
The highest recorded value was 1.88 years in 2019.
What is the lowest school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes recorded in India?
The lowest recorded value was 0.0224 years in 1971.
How does India rank for school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes?
India ranks 82nd out of 191 countries with data for 2019.
Where does this India data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in India. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 23 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/school-life-expectancy-pre-primary-both-sexes-years/india/

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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.