School life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, gender parity in South Africa

South Africa: School life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, gender parity was 0.9712 GPI in 2018. ▬ Flat

Latest (2018)
0.9712 GPI
Change on year
down 0.8%
World rank
145th
of 188 countries
All-time high
1 GPI
in 1998
All-time low
0.9479 GPI
in 2015
Years of data
19
1998–2018

School life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, gender parity in South Africa, 1998–2018

00.250.50.7511998200820181998: 1 GPI1999: 0.998 GPI2000: 0.98 GPI2001: 0.992 GPI2002: 0.991 GPI2003: 0.99 GPI2004: 0.987 GPI2005: 0.984 GPI2006: 0.977 GPI2007: 0.975 GPI2008: 0.974 GPI2009: 0.976 GPI2010: 0.973 GPI2011: 0.968 GPI2012: 0.966 GPI2015: 0.948 GPI2016: 0.982 GPI2017: 0.979 GPI2018: 0.971 GPI

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in GPI.

Analysis

South Africa recorded 0.9712 GPI for school life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, gender parity in 2018.

That represents a change of down 0.8% on the previous year and down 0.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, gender parity in South Africa peaked at 1 GPI in 1998 and was at its lowest, 0.9479 GPI, in 2015.

That places South Africa 145th out of 188 countries with data for 2018, putting it in the bottom quarter.

School life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, gender parity in South Africa, year by year

Annual values for School life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, gender parity index (GPI) in South Africa, 1998 to 2018.
Year GPI Change
1998 1 GPI
1999 0.9981 GPI -0.2%
2000 0.9798 GPI -1.8%
2001 0.9917 GPI +1.2%
2002 0.9912 GPI -0.1%
2003 0.9896 GPI -0.2%
2004 0.987 GPI -0.3%
2005 0.9835 GPI -0.4%
2006 0.9774 GPI -0.6%
2007 0.9751 GPI -0.2%
2008 0.9738 GPI -0.1%
2009 0.9762 GPI +0.2%
2010 0.9728 GPI -0.4%
2011 0.9684 GPI -0.5%
2012 0.9656 GPI -0.3%
2015 0.9479 GPI -1.8%
2016 0.9823 GPI +3.6%
2017 0.9788 GPI -0.4%
2018 0.9712 GPI -0.8%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 0.9991 GPI 0.9981 GPI 1 GPI 2
2000s 0.9825 GPI 0.9738 GPI 0.9917 GPI 10
2010s 0.9696 GPI 0.9479 GPI 0.9823 GPI 7

Countries ranked near South Africa

  1. 142 Liberia 0.9726 GPI compare
  2. 143 Chile 0.9715 GPI compare
  3. 144 Luxembourg 0.9713 GPI compare
  4. 146 Australia 0.9703 GPI compare
  5. 147 Thailand 0.9702 GPI compare
  6. 148 Belize 0.9701 GPI compare

See the full ranking of 233 places →

More reference data data for South Africa

All data for South Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is school life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, gender parity in South Africa?
School life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, gender parity in South Africa was 0.9712 GPI in 2018, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest school life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, gender parity recorded in South Africa?
The highest recorded value was 1 GPI in 1998.
What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, gender parity recorded in South Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 0.9479 GPI in 2015.
How does South Africa rank for school life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, gender parity?
South Africa ranks 145th out of 188 countries with data for 2018.
Is school life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, gender parity rising or falling in South Africa?
Over the last ten years it is down 0.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
Where does this South Africa data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of School life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, gender parity index (GPI). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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School life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, gender parity in South Africa. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 27 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/school-life-expectancy-primary-and-lower-secondary-gender-parity-index-gpi/south-africa/

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About this data

Indicator
School life expectancy, primary and lower secondary, gender parity index (GPI)
Unit
GPI
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
233 places, 4,492 data points, 1981–2020
Last refreshed

Ratio of female school life expectancy to the male school life expectancy. It is calculated by dividing the female value for the indicator by the male value for the indicator. A GPI equal to 1 indicates parity between females and males. In general, a value less than 1 indicates disparity in favor of males and a value greater than 1 indicates disparity in favor of females.