School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female (years) (female) in OECD members
OECD members: School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female (years) (female) was 16.63 years in 2019. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in OECD members, 1970–2019
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in years.
Analysis
OECD members recorded 16.63 years for school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in 2019. That is the highest value across all 50 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.1% on the previous year and up 7.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in OECD members peaked at 16.63 years in 2019 and was at its lowest, 10.25 years, in 1971.
OECD members ranks 6th of 45 groups on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 50 years of available data.
School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female (years) (female) in OECD members, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 10.28 years | — |
| 1971 | 10.25 years | -0.3% |
| 1972 | 10.32 years | +0.7% |
| 1973 | 10.54 years | +2.1% |
| 1974 | 10.68 years | +1.3% |
| 1975 | 10.81 years | +1.3% |
| 1976 | 11 years | +1.7% |
| 1977 | 11.19 years | +1.8% |
| 1978 | 11.31 years | +1.0% |
| 1979 | 11.33 years | +0.2% |
| 1980 | 11.68 years | +3.0% |
| 1981 | 11.75 years | +0.6% |
| 1982 | 11.9 years | +1.3% |
| 1983 | 11.97 years | +0.6% |
| 1984 | 12.11 years | +1.1% |
| 1985 | 12.17 years | +0.5% |
| 1986 | 12.36 years | +1.6% |
| 1987 | 12.48 years | +1.0% |
| 1988 | 12.63 years | +1.2% |
| 1989 | 12.71 years | +0.6% |
| 1990 | 12.78 years | +0.6% |
| 1991 | 12.92 years | +1.1% |
| 1992 | 13.14 years | +1.7% |
| 1993 | 13.31 years | +1.3% |
| 1994 | 13.52 years | +1.6% |
| 1995 | 13.68 years | +1.2% |
| 1996 | 13.81 years | +1.0% |
| 1997 | 14.03 years | +1.6% |
| 1998 | 14.26 years | +1.7% |
| 1999 | 14.29 years | +0.2% |
| 2000 | 14.23 years | -0.5% |
| 2001 | 14.41 years | +1.3% |
| 2002 | 14.55 years | +0.9% |
| 2003 | 14.72 years | +1.1% |
| 2004 | 14.79 years | +0.5% |
| 2005 | 14.95 years | +1.1% |
| 2006 | 15.05 years | +0.6% |
| 2007 | 15.16 years | +0.7% |
| 2008 | 15.26 years | +0.7% |
| 2009 | 15.44 years | +1.1% |
| 2010 | 15.58 years | +1.0% |
| 2011 | 15.7 years | +0.8% |
| 2012 | 15.76 years | +0.4% |
| 2013 | 16.19 years | +2.7% |
| 2014 | 16.3 years | +0.6% |
| 2015 | 16.38 years | +0.5% |
| 2016 | 16.51 years | +0.8% |
| 2017 | 16.59 years | +0.5% |
| 2018 | 16.62 years | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 16.63 years | +0.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 10.77 years | 10.25 years | 11.33 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 12.18 years | 11.68 years | 12.71 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 13.57 years | 12.78 years | 14.29 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 14.86 years | 14.23 years | 15.44 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 16.23 years | 15.58 years | 16.63 years | 10 |
Countries ranked near OECD members
More gender data for OECD members
- Labor force, female 318.09 million (2025)
- Labor force, female, per capita 0.2268 units per person (2025)
- Labor force, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Labor force, female, annual growth rate 0.4583 % change on previous year (2025)
- Labor force, female, per square kilometre 8.86 units per square kilometre (2023)
- Ratio of female to male youth unemployment rate (% ages 15-24) 102.5% (2025)
- School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, male 16.02 years (2019)
- Proportion of women in ministerial level positions 36.1% (2025)
- Own-account workers, female (% of female employment) 8.1% (2015)
- Own-account workers, male (% of male employment) 12.3% (2015)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in OECD members?
- School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in OECD members was 16.63 years in 2019, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
- What is the highest school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female recorded in OECD members?
- The highest recorded value was 16.63 years in 2019.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female recorded in OECD members?
- The lowest recorded value was 10.25 years in 1971.
- How does OECD members rank for school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female?
- OECD members ranks 6th out of 45 groups with data for 2019.
- Is school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female rising or falling in OECD members?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this OECD members data come from?
- The figures come from Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as part of School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Expected years of schooling is the number of years a child of school entrance age is expected to spend at school, or university, including years spent on repetition. It is the sum of the age-specific enrolment ratios for primary, secondary, post-secondary non-tertiary and tertiary education.