School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)

Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income): School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes was 0.7795 years in 2019. ▲ Rising

Latest (2019)
0.7795 years
Change on year
up 0.6%
Rank
34th
of 43 groups
All-time high
0.7797 years
in 2017
All-time low
0.2792 years
in 1973
Years of data
47
1973–2019

School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income), 1973–2019

00.20.40.60.8197319962019

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.

Analysis

Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) recorded 0.7795 years for school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in 2019.

The figure is up 0.6% on the previous year and up 50.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) peaked at 0.7797 years in 2017 and was at its lowest, 0.2792 years, in 1973.

Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) ranks 34th of 43 groups on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 47 years of available data.

School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income), year by year

Annual values for School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes (years) in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income), 1973 to 2019.
Year years Change
1973 0.2792 years
1974 0.2822 years +1.1%
1975 0.2867 years +1.6%
1976 0.2914 years +1.7%
1977 0.296 years +1.6%
1978 0.3004 years +1.5%
1979 0.3018 years +0.5%
1980 0.3071 years +1.7%
1981 0.3054 years -0.5%
1982 0.3001 years -1.7%
1983 0.2937 years -2.1%
1984 0.2914 years -0.8%
1985 0.2914 years +0.0%
1986 0.2965 years +1.7%
1987 0.2988 years +0.8%
1988 0.3046 years +1.9%
1989 0.3073 years +0.9%
1990 0.3093 years +0.7%
1991 0.3097 years +0.1%
1992 0.3114 years +0.5%
1993 0.3101 years -0.4%
1994 0.3089 years -0.4%
1995 0.3131 years +1.4%
1996 0.3176 years +1.4%
1997 0.3174 years -0.1%
1998 0.3171 years -0.1%
1999 0.328 years +3.5%
2000 0.3507 years +6.9%
2001 0.3563 years +1.6%
2002 0.378 years +6.1%
2003 0.4056 years +7.3%
2004 0.4317 years +6.5%
2005 0.4407 years +2.1%
2006 0.4665 years +5.8%
2007 0.4865 years +4.3%
2008 0.4818 years -1.0%
2009 0.5166 years +7.2%
2010 0.5203 years +0.7%
2011 0.5633 years +8.3%
2012 0.6466 years +14.8%
2013 0.7119 years +10.1%
2014 0.5796 years -18.6%
2015 0.6259 years +8.0%
2016 0.7759 years +24.0%
2017 0.7797 years +0.5%
2018 0.775 years -0.6%
2019 0.7795 years +0.6%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 0.2911 years 0.2792 years 0.3018 years 7
1980s 0.2996 years 0.2914 years 0.3073 years 10
1990s 0.3143 years 0.3089 years 0.328 years 10
2000s 0.4314 years 0.3507 years 0.5166 years 10
2010s 0.6758 years 0.5203 years 0.7797 years 10

Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)

  1. 31 San Marino 2.83 years compare
  2. 32 Italy 2.81 years compare
  3. 33 Republic of Korea 2.81 years compare
  4. 34 Slovenia 2.77 years compare
  5. 35 Croatia 2.77 years compare
  6. 36 Luxembourg 2.76 years compare
  7. 37 Macao 2.72 years compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More reference data data for Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)

All data for Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) →

Frequently asked questions

What is school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
School life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) was 0.7795 years in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
The highest recorded value was 0.7797 years in 2017.
What is the lowest school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
The lowest recorded value was 0.2792 years in 1973.
How does Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) rank for school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes?
Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) ranks 34th out of 43 groups with data for 2019.
Is school life expectancy, pre-primary, both sexes rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
Over the last ten years it is up 50.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 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 Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income). Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 31 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/school-life-expectancy-pre-primary-both-sexes-years/sub-saharan-africa-excluding-high-income/

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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.