School life expectancy, primary, both sexes in Jamaica
Jamaica: School life expectancy, primary, both sexes was 5.1 years in 2019. ▼ Falling
School life expectancy, primary, both sexes in Jamaica, 1971–2019
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
Jamaica recorded 5.1 years for school life expectancy, primary, both sexes in 2019. That is the lowest value across all 33 years on record.
The figure is down 6.4% on the previous year and down 11.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary, both sexes in Jamaica peaked at 6.56 years in 1972 and was at its lowest, 5.1 years, in 2019.
Jamaica ranks 154th of 199 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 33 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 6.28 years | 6.05 years | 6.56 years | 9 |
| 1980s | 6.21 years | 6.11 years | 6.29 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 5.97 years | 5.67 years | 6.18 years | 4 |
| 2000s | 5.75 years | 5.69 years | 5.78 years | 5 |
| 2010s | 5.37 years | 5.1 years | 5.49 years | 5 |
Countries ranked near Jamaica
More reference data data for Jamaica
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.9087 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.833 °C (2026)
- Spring temperature anomalies 0.4942 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 1.32 °C (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.994 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 233.16 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Free country 2 (2025)
- Democracy 7 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary, both sexes in Jamaica?
- School life expectancy, primary, both sexes in Jamaica was 5.1 years in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, primary, both sexes recorded in Jamaica?
- The highest recorded value was 6.56 years in 1972.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary, both sexes recorded in Jamaica?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.1 years in 2019.
- How does Jamaica rank for school life expectancy, primary, both sexes?
- Jamaica ranks 154th out of 199 countries with data for 2019.
- Is school life expectancy, primary, both sexes rising or falling in Jamaica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Jamaica data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of School life expectancy, primary, both sexes (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 33 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.