School life expectancy, primary, female in South Africa

South Africa: School life expectancy, primary, female was 6.77 years in 2018. ▬ Flat

Latest (2018)
6.77 years
Change on year
down 1.9%
World rank
49th
of 197 countries
All-time high
7.89 years
in 1995
All-time low
5.59 years
in 1986
Years of data
31
1970–2018

School life expectancy, primary, female in South Africa, 1970–2018

024681970199420181970: 7.4 years1986: 5.6 years1987: 5.7 years1988: 5.7 years1989: 7.4 years1990: 7.3 years1991: 7.6 years1994: 7.7 years1995: 7.9 years1997: 7.6 years1998: 7.5 years1999: 7.5 years2000: 7 years2001: 7.1 years2002: 7.2 years2003: 7.3 years2004: 7.3 years2005: 7.3 years2006: 7.3 years2007: 7.4 years2008: 7.4 years2009: 7.3 years2010: 7.2 years2011: 7.1 years2012: 7.1 years2013: 7 years2014: 7 years2015: 7 years2016: 7.1 years2017: 6.9 years2018: 6.8 years

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.

Analysis

The most recent figure for school life expectancy, primary, female in South Africa is 6.77 years, measured in 2018.

That represents a change of down 1.9% on the previous year and down 8.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary, female in South Africa peaked at 7.89 years in 1995 and was at its lowest, 5.59 years, in 1986.

South Africa ranks 49th of 197 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 7.39 years 7.39 years 7.39 years 1
1980s 6.07 years 5.59 years 7.38 years 4
1990s 7.58 years 7.35 years 7.89 years 7
2000s 7.26 years 6.98 years 7.44 years 10
2010s 7.03 years 6.77 years 7.19 years 9

Countries ranked near South Africa

  1. 46 Fiji 6.85 years compare
  2. 47 Morocco 6.81 years compare
  3. 48 Congo 6.78 years compare
  4. 50 Solomon Islands 6.76 years compare
  5. 51 Hong Kong 6.73 years compare
  6. 52 Haiti 6.71 years compare

See the full ranking of 242 places →

More reference data data for South Africa

All data for South Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is school life expectancy, primary, female in South Africa?
School life expectancy, primary, female in South Africa was 6.77 years in 2018, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest school life expectancy, primary, female recorded in South Africa?
The highest recorded value was 7.89 years in 1995.
What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary, female recorded in South Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 5.59 years in 1986.
How does South Africa rank for school life expectancy, primary, female?
South Africa ranks 49th out of 197 countries with data for 2018.
Is school life expectancy, primary, female rising or falling in South Africa?
Over the last ten years it is down 8.6%. 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, female (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

About this data

Indicator
School life expectancy, primary, female (years)
Unit
years
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
242 places, 9,331 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.