School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)
Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income): School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female was 8.85 years in 2017. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income), 1970–2017
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in years.
Analysis
Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) recorded 8.85 years for school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in 2017.
That represents a change of up 0.3% on the previous year and up 14.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) peaked at 8.96 years in 2013 and was at its lowest, 3.51 years, in 1970.
That places Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 42nd out of 45 groups with data for 2017, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 48 years of available data.
School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income), year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 3.51 years | — |
| 1971 | 3.56 years | +1.3% |
| 1972 | 3.66 years | +2.9% |
| 1973 | 3.74 years | +2.0% |
| 1974 | 3.89 years | +4.0% |
| 1975 | 4.01 years | +3.0% |
| 1976 | 4.1 years | +2.4% |
| 1977 | 4.33 years | +5.6% |
| 1978 | 4.6 years | +6.2% |
| 1979 | 4.91 years | +6.8% |
| 1980 | 5.15 years | +4.9% |
| 1981 | 5.42 years | +5.2% |
| 1982 | 5.61 years | +3.5% |
| 1983 | 5.61 years | +0.1% |
| 1984 | 5.57 years | -0.8% |
| 1985 | 5.54 years | -0.5% |
| 1986 | 5.45 years | -1.7% |
| 1987 | 5.42 years | -0.4% |
| 1988 | 5.34 years | -1.6% |
| 1989 | 5.41 years | +1.4% |
| 1990 | 5.34 years | -1.3% |
| 1991 | 5.47 years | +2.4% |
| 1992 | 5.46 years | -0.1% |
| 1993 | 5.52 years | +1.0% |
| 1994 | 5.54 years | +0.3% |
| 1995 | 5.61 years | +1.2% |
| 1996 | 5.53 years | -1.5% |
| 1997 | 5.74 years | +3.9% |
| 1998 | 5.88 years | +2.5% |
| 1999 | 6 years | +2.0% |
| 2000 | 6.19 years | +3.2% |
| 2001 | 6.38 years | +3.0% |
| 2002 | 6.58 years | +3.3% |
| 2003 | 6.85 years | +4.0% |
| 2004 | 7.14 years | +4.3% |
| 2005 | 7.41 years | +3.7% |
| 2006 | 7.64 years | +3.2% |
| 2007 | 7.76 years | +1.4% |
| 2008 | 8.01 years | +3.4% |
| 2009 | 8.2 years | +2.3% |
| 2010 | 8.36 years | +1.9% |
| 2011 | 8.51 years | +1.8% |
| 2012 | 8.7 years | +2.2% |
| 2013 | 8.96 years | +3.0% |
| 2014 | 8.88 years | -0.9% |
| 2015 | 8.88 years | -0.0% |
| 2016 | 8.82 years | -0.6% |
| 2017 | 8.85 years | +0.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 4.03 years | 3.51 years | 4.91 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 5.45 years | 5.15 years | 5.61 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 5.61 years | 5.34 years | 6 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 7.22 years | 6.19 years | 8.2 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.74 years | 8.36 years | 8.96 years | 8 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)
More gender data for Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)
- Labor force, female 247.09 million (2025)
- Labor force, female, per capita 0.187 units per person (2025)
- Labor force, female, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Labor force, female, annual growth rate 2.97 % change on previous year (2025)
- Labor force, female, per square kilometre 9.83 units per square kilometre (2023)
- Incidence of HIV, ages 15-49, female 1.12 per 1,000 uninfected female population ages 15-49 (2024)
- Incidence of HIV, ages 15-49, male 0.5884 per 1,000 uninfected male population ages 15-49 (2024)
- Incidence of HIV, ages 15-24, female 1.38 per 1,000 uninfected female population ages 15-24 (2024)
- Incidence of HIV, ages 15-24, male 0.4268 per 1,000 uninfected male population ages 15-24 (2024)
- Ratio of female to male youth unemployment rate (% ages 15-24) 127.7% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
- School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) was 8.85 years in 2017, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
- What is the highest school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
- The highest recorded value was 8.96 years in 2013.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.51 years in 1970.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) rank for school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female?
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) ranks 42nd out of 45 groups with data for 2017.
- Is school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
- Over the last ten years it is up 14.1%. 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 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.