School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in Ireland
Ireland: School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes was 1.87 years in 2018. ▼ Falling
School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in Ireland, 1971–2018
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
The most recent figure for school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in Ireland is 1.87 years, measured in 2018.
The figure is up 12.5% on the previous year and up 81.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in Ireland peaked at 2.3 years in 1997 and was at its lowest, 1.01 years, in 2015.
That places Ireland 85th out of 191 countries with data for 2018, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 34 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2.13 years | 1.97 years | 2.21 years | 9 |
| 1980s | 2.01 years | 1.89 years | 2.11 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.14 years | 1.97 years | 2.3 years | 8 |
| 2010s | 1.28 years | 1.01 years | 1.87 years | 7 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More reference data data for Ireland
- Summer temperature anomalies 1.31 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month -0.6528 °C (2026)
- Spring temperature anomalies 1.01 °C (2026)
- Autumn temperature anomalies -0.5528 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.8957 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 130.04 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Civil liberties rating 1 (2025)
- Free country 2 (2025)
- Democracy 7 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in Ireland?
- School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in Ireland was 1.87 years in 2018, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 2.3 years in 1997.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.01 years in 2015.
- How does Ireland rank for school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes?
- Ireland ranks 85th out of 191 countries with data for 2018.
- Is school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 81.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ireland 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.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 34 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.