placestats

Expected schooling vs. Life expectancy

Holds up after adjusting for income

Across 187 countries, Expected schooling and Life expectancy rise and fall together at r = +0.76 (on a scale from −1 to +1, where 0 means no link). Comparing only countries with similar income (GDP per person) shrinks it to +0.27 (q = 0.039, allowing for the many pairs tested). Much of the first figure is that both measures rise with national income, but a weak positive link remains.

Comparing countries across the middle half of expected schooling, 11.5 to 15.9 years, life expectancy is better by 7.9 years at the top of that range than the bottom. Comparing only countries with similar national income, the gap is 2.32 years.

Link before adjusting (r)+0.759p = 3.0e-36 · 187 countries
After adjusting for national income+0.268p = 0.000 · likely range [+0.13, +0.40]
p, allowing for regions0.003standard error 0.057 · 7 regions
Check for luck (q)0.039across 12,497 pairs

How to read these.r runs from −1 (one goes up as the other goes down) to +1 (they rise together), and 0 means no link. Adjusting for national income means comparing countries with the same GDP per person, so differences in wealth can’t explain the link. Income is used in percentage terms, since an extra $1,000 means more to a poor country than to a rich one. p is how likely a link this strong would be if there were really none. Below 0.05 means it is unlikely to be chance. Very small values are written in short form: 1.1e-32 means a decimal point followed by 31 zeros and then 11, so very close to zero. The likely range is where the true figure probably lies, and a range that crosses zero means the link could easily be chance. Countries in the same region tend to resemble each other, so the third figure allows for that, which gives a fairer p. The standard error is the typical size of the error in r. Finally, testing this many pairs means some will look strong by luck alone. A q below 0.05 means this link is unlikely to be one of those.

Expected schooling · yearslink with income +0.81 · proxy
Life expectancy · yearslink with income +0.87 · proxy

Both of these rise and fall closely with national income, so a strong link between them before adjusting was close to certain. Read the adjusted figure, not the first one.

“Link with income” is how closely each measure tracks GDP per person across countries, from −1 to +1.

Every country as a dot

Expected schooling · years →Life expectancy · years →6.2120.854.685.8Afghanistan: 10.8 years, 66.3 yearsAngola: 12.2 years, 64.8 yearsAlbania: 14.5 years, 79.8 yearsAndorra: 14.5 years, 84.2 yearsUnited Arab Emirates: 15.6 years, 83.1 yearsArgentina: 18.8 years, 77.5 yearsArmenia: 14.4 years, 78.3 yearsAntigua and Barbuda: 15.5 years, 77.8 yearsAustralia: 20.7 years, 83.1 yearsAustria: 16.3 years, 82 yearsAzerbaijan: 12.9 years, 74.6 yearsBurundi: 9.83 years, 63.8 yearsBelgium: 19 years, 82.3 yearsBenin: 10.4 years, 61 yearsBurkina Faso: 8.73 years, 61.3 yearsBangladesh: 12.3 years, 74.9 yearsBulgaria: 15.3 years, 75.8 yearsBahrain: 15.9 years, 81.4 yearsBahamas, The: 11.9 years, 74.7 yearsBosnia and Herzegovina: 13.2 years, 78 yearsBelarus: 13.7 years, 74.4 yearsBelize: 12 years, 73.7 yearsBolivia: 15.6 years, 68.7 yearsBrazil: 15.8 years, 76 yearsBarbados: 16.6 years, 76.3 yearsBrunei Darussalam: 13.7 years, 75.5 yearsBhutan: 13.2 years, 73.3 yearsBotswana: 11.4 years, 69.3 yearsCentral African Republic: 7.44 years, 57.7 yearsCanada: 15.9 years, 82.1 yearsSwitzerland: 16.7 years, 84.4 yearsChile: 16.9 years, 81.4 yearsChina: 15.5 years, 78 yearsCote d'Ivoire: 11.4 years, 62.1 yearsCameroon: 10.8 years, 64 yearsCongo, Dem. Rep.: 10.9 years, 62.1 yearsCongo, Rep.: 12.7 years, 66 yearsColombia: 14.3 years, 77.9 yearsComoros: 13.3 years, 67 yearsCabo Verde: 11.4 years, 76.2 yearsCosta Rica: 16.3 years, 81 yearsCyprus: 16.2 years, 81.8 yearsCzechia: 16.8 years, 80 yearsGermany: 17.3 years, 80.8 yearsDjibouti: 6.21 years, 66.2 yearsDominica: 14.2 years, 71.3 yearsDenmark: 18.7 years, 82.3 yearsDominican Republic: 13.6 years, 73.9 yearsAlgeria: 15.5 years, 76.5 yearsEcuador: 14.9 years, 77.6 yearsEgypt, Arab Rep.: 13.1 years, 71.8 yearsSpain: 17.8 years, 83.9 yearsEstonia: 16 years, 79.3 yearsEthiopia: 9.22 years, 67.6 yearsFinland: 19.5 years, 82.3 yearsFiji: 13.8 years, 67.5 yearsFrance: 16.1 years, 83 yearsMicronesia, Fed. Sts.: 11.5 years, 67.4 yearsGabon: 12.5 years, 68.5 yearsUnited Kingdom: 17.8 years, 81.4 yearsGeorgia: 16.8 years, 74.7 yearsGhana: 11.4 years, 65.7 yearsGuinea: 10.4 years, 60.9 yearsGambia, The: 8.98 years, 66.1 yearsGuinea-Bissau: 10.6 years, 64.3 yearsEquatorial Guinea: 12.5 years, 63.9 yearsGreece: 20.8 years, 81.8 yearsGrenada: 16.6 years, 75.4 yearsGuatemala: 10.7 years, 72.7 yearsGuyana: 13 years, 70.3 yearsHong Kong SAR, China: 16.9 years, 85.4 yearsHonduras: 10.2 years, 73 yearsCroatia: 16.3 years, 78.9 yearsHaiti: 10.9 years, 65.1 yearsHungary: 15.5 years, 76.7 yearsIndonesia: 13.3 years, 71.3 yearsIndia: 13 years, 72.2 yearsIreland: 19.2 years, 83 yearsIran, Islamic Rep.: 14 years, 77.9 yearsIraq: 12.4 years, 72.4 yearsIceland: 18.9 years, 82.8 yearsIsrael: 14.9 years, 83.2 yearsItaly: 16.7 years, 84 yearsJamaica: 12.4 years, 71.6 yearsJordan: 13.1 years, 78 yearsJapan: 15.5 years, 84 yearsKazakhstan: 14 years, 74.5 yearsKenya: 11.5 years, 63.8 yearsKyrgyz Republic: 12.7 years, 72.4 yearsCambodia: 11.2 years, 70.8 yearsKiribati: 11.9 years, 66.6 yearsSt. Kitts and Nevis: 18.4 years, 72.3 yearsKorea, Rep.: 16.6 years, 83.6 yearsKuwait: 15.9 years, 84.6 yearsLao PDR: 9.61 years, 69.2 yearsLebanon: 11.7 years, 77.9 yearsLiberia: 10.5 years, 62.3 yearsLibya: 12.9 years, 71.1 yearsSt. Lucia: 12.7 years, 72.8 yearsSri Lanka: 13.1 years, 77.7 yearsLesotho: 11 years, 57.8 yearsLithuania: 16.5 years, 77.2 yearsLuxembourg: 14.4 years, 83.2 yearsLatvia: 16.5 years, 76.4 yearsMorocco: 15.1 years, 75.5 yearsMoldova: 14.6 years, 71.3 yearsMadagascar: 9.06 years, 63.8 yearsMaldives: 12.8 years, 81.3 yearsMexico: 14.5 years, 75.3 yearsMarshall Islands: 16.4 years, 67.1 yearsNorth Macedonia: 14.8 years, 76.6 yearsMali: 7.01 years, 60.7 yearsMalta: 15.9 years, 83 yearsMyanmar: 11.5 years, 67.1 yearsMontenegro: 15.5 years, 77.9 yearsMongolia: 13.6 years, 72.4 yearsMozambique: 10.8 years, 63.8 yearsMauritania: 7.95 years, 68.7 yearsMauritius: 14.2 years, 73.8 yearsMalawi: 9.9 years, 67.6 yearsMalaysia: 12.7 years, 76.8 yearsNamibia: 11.8 years, 67.5 yearsNiger: 8.31 years, 61.4 yearsNigeria: 10.5 years, 54.6 yearsNicaragua: 11.5 years, 75.1 yearsNetherlands: 18.6 years, 82 yearsNorway: 18.8 years, 83.2 yearsNepal: 13.8 years, 70.6 yearsNaoero: 12.8 years, 62.3 yearsNew Zealand: 19.3 years, 82 yearsOman: 13.4 years, 80.2 yearsPakistan: 7.9 years, 67.8 yearsPanama: 13.3 years, 79.8 yearsPeru: 14.9 years, 77.9 yearsPhilippines: 12.8 years, 69.9 yearsPalau: 14.1 years, 69.4 yearsPapua New Guinea: 11.5 years, 66.3 yearsPoland: 16.7 years, 78.4 yearsPortugal: 17.5 years, 82.4 yearsParaguay: 14 years, 74 yearsWest Bank and Gaza: 13 years, 69.2 yearsQatar: 13.1 years, 82.5 yearsRomania: 14.1 years, 76.5 yearsRussian Federation: 13.2 years, 73.4 yearsRwanda: 12.6 years, 68 yearsSaudi Arabia: 16.9 years, 79 yearsSudan: 8.62 years, 66.5 yearsSenegal: 9.14 years, 68.9 yearsSingapore: 16.7 years, 83.3 yearsSolomon Islands: 11.3 years, 70.7 yearsSierra Leone: 9.06 years, 62 yearsEl Salvador: 11.1 years, 72.3 yearsSan Marino: 14.6 years, 85.8 yearsSomalia, Fed. Rep.: 7.49 years, 59 yearsSerbia: 15 years, 76 yearsSao Tome and Principe: 12.9 years, 69.9 yearsSuriname: 11 years, 73.8 yearsSlovak Republic: 14.9 years, 78.4 yearsSlovenia: 17.5 years, 82.3 yearsSweden: 19 years, 84.1 yearsEswatini: 15.2 years, 64.3 yearsSeychelles: 18.2 years, 76.3 yearsSyrian Arab Republic: 7.42 years, 72.6 yearsChad: 8.35 years, 55.2 yearsTogo: 13.1 years, 62.9 yearsThailand: 15.4 years, 76.6 yearsTajikistan: 10.8 years, 71.9 yearsTurkmenistan: 13.2 years, 70.2 yearsTimor-Leste: 13.3 years, 67.9 yearsTonga: 17.8 years, 73.1 yearsTrinidad and Tobago: 14.2 years, 73.6 yearsTunisia: 14.7 years, 76.7 yearsTurkiye: 19.8 years, 77.4 yearsTuvalu: 12.4 years, 67.3 yearsTanzania: 8.59 years, 67.2 yearsUganda: 11.6 years, 68.5 yearsUkraine: 13.3 years, 74.7 yearsUruguay: 17.5 years, 78.3 yearsUnited States: 15.9 years, 78.9 yearsUzbekistan: 12.5 years, 72.5 yearsSt. Vincent and the Grenadines: 16.3 years, 71.4 yearsViet Nam: 15.5 years, 74.7 yearsVanuatu: 11.8 years, 71.7 yearsSamoa: 12.4 years, 71.8 yearsSouth Africa: 13.8 years, 66.3 yearsZambia: 11 years, 66.5 yearsZimbabwe: 11.1 years, 63.1 yearsAUSCAFDJIGRCKNAMHLQATSOMSWESWZSYRTCD

best-fit line line after adjusting

Four ways to measure the link

MethodrpCountries
Standard (Pearson), not adjusted+0.7593.0e-36187
By rank (Spearman), not adjusted+0.7811.2e-39187
Standard (Pearson), adjusted for national income+0.2680.000187
By rank (Spearman), adjusted for national income+0.2530.000187

The rank version uses only each country’s place in line, from lowest to highest, so a few extreme countries count for less. The adjusted and unadjusted versions use the same 187 countries: those that report both measures and GDP per person. So the gap between them comes from the adjustment, not from a change in which countries are counted. Drop in the size of r after adjusting: +0.490 (a minus sign means it grew).

How solid is it?

Leaving out one country at a time, r ranges from +0.238 (without GUY) to +0.290 (without SYR). The bar above shows that range on a scale from −1 to +1, with the solid line at the full result. The single country that moves r most: GUY (-0.030).

Within each region

Countries are not separate, unrelated cases, and neighbors share a lot. A link that holds inside each region is far more believable than one that shows up only when comparing regions.

nr
East Asia & Pacific30+0.37
Europe & Central Asia50+0.28
Latin America & Caribbean31+0.29
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan22+0.41
Sub-Saharan Africa46+0.23

By income third

If the link shows up only in the richest third of countries, it is a feature of rich countries, not a general pattern.

nr
Poorest third63+0.27
Middle third62+0.11
Richest third62+0.38

By largest religious group

Countries grouped by a label they share, such as main religion, rather than by a number. Groups of fewer than twelve countries are not shown. These groups differ in income, region and history all at once. So a gap between them is a place to start asking questions, not an answer.

nr
Christians108+0.37
Muslims49+0.30

By last european coloniser

Countries grouped by a label they share, such as main religion, rather than by a number. Groups of fewer than twelve countries are not shown. These groups differ in income, region and history all at once. So a gap between them is a place to start asking questions, not an answer.

nr
France25+0.15
Never a European colony21+0.02
Spain20+0.20
United Kingdom63+0.26

Without outliers (countries far outside the middle half of countries on either measure, by more than one and a half times the width of that middle half): r = +0.268 after dropping 0 countries.

Two series, one country

Both measures over the years for one country you pick. The two charts are stacked so they share only the years along the bottom.

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Over time, within countries

Everything above compares countries with each other at one moment. This section compares each country only with itself over 34years. So a link here can’t come from anything about a country that stays the same, such as its history, geography, institutions or culture.

The link shows up within countries over time (r = +0.261) but mostly disappears in year-to-year changes (r = +0.027). That points to slow trends particular to each country, not the two measures moving together from year to year.

Across countries (adjusted)+0.268for comparison
Within countries+0.723each country vs itself
…and vs the same year elsewhere+0.261q = 4.0e-5 · 194 countries
Year-on-year changes+0.027q = 0.022
Read with care.
  • Much of the within-country association disappears once shared global year effects are removed, which points to a common worldwide trend rather than a country-level relationship.
  • The association is much weaker in year-on-year changes than in levels, which points to shared country-specific trends.

6,308 country-years (one country in one year), 194 countries, 1990–2023, about 33 years each on average. Share of the variation that happens within countries over time: 20% for Expected schooling, 13% for Life expectancy. The margins of error allow for each country appearing many times, and for each year’s value being close to the year before.

Year-to-year changes are a cautious test, not a final answer. Looking only at changes from one year to the next removes each country’s own trends. But it also makes measurement mistakes louder, which pulls the results toward zero. A near-zero result here is weak evidence of no link, not proof.

With one measure years behind the other

0.30−0.3-100+10years Life expectancy trails Expected schooling →lag -10: r = 0.091 (n = 4,592)lag -9: r = 0.113 (n = 4,766)lag -8: r = 0.136 (n = 4,939)lag -7: r = 0.157 (n = 5,112)lag -6: r = 0.183 (n = 5,285)lag -5: r = 0.207 (n = 5,458)lag -4: r = 0.224 (n = 5,628)lag -3: r = 0.240 (n = 5,798)lag -2: r = 0.254 (n = 5,968)lag -1: r = 0.255 (n = 6,138)lag +0: r = 0.261 (n = 6,308)lag +1: r = 0.251 (n = 6,308)lag +2: r = 0.241 (n = 6,114)lag +3: r = 0.232 (n = 5,920)lag +4: r = 0.222 (n = 5,726)lag +5: r = 0.209 (n = 5,532)lag +6: r = 0.197 (n = 5,338)lag +7: r = 0.183 (n = 5,144)lag +8: r = 0.174 (n = 4,950)lag +9: r = 0.161 (n = 4,756)lag +10: r = 0.148 (n = 4,562)

Same year (lag 0): +0.261. A peak away from zero does not show which comes first. These series change slowly — this year’s value is close to last year’s. That makes the curve smooth and nearly symmetric, whatever produced the data. Even a sharp peak at one lag (a gap of some years) would not prove that one measure changes the other.

The data


years
years		Years
Greece GRC20.881.82023, 2024
Australia AUS20.783.12023, 2024
Turkiye TUR19.877.42023, 2024
Finland FIN19.582.32023, 2024
New Zealand NZL19.3822023, 2024
Ireland IRL19.2832023, 2024
Belgium BEL1982.32023, 2024
Sweden SWE1984.12023, 2024
Iceland ISL18.982.82023, 2024
Argentina ARG18.877.52023, 2024
Norway NOR18.883.22023, 2024
Denmark DNK18.782.32023, 2024
Netherlands NLD18.6822023, 2024
St. Kitts and Nevis KNA18.472.32023, 2024
Seychelles SYC18.276.32023, 2024

United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 2025
World Bank, World Development Indicators

Sources

Expected schooling

Expected years of schooling

United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report Office · via Our World in Data · CC BY 3.0 IGO · updated annual

The years a child starting school today can expect to spend in it, if current enrolment rates hold. It is a forecast built from the same UNESCO enrolment figures the site already has, so it moves with them.

Life expectancy

Life expectancy at birth, total (years)

World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · updated quarterly

How this was computed

Data used: most recent value in 2010-2025; values come from 2023–2024. To adjust for income, each measure is first predicted from GDP per person (in percentage terms, on a log scale) with a straight-line fit. Only what is left over is then compared. This is called a partial correlation. The line is drawn the standard way (ordinary least squares), which picks the line that comes closest to all the countries at once. The error margins allow for countries in the same region resembling each other, using 7 World Bank regions. The q-value corrects for testing all 12,497 pairs at once, using the Benjamini–Hochberg method. Underlying data last updated DYB 2024. How the country data works · explore Expected schooling and Life expectancy

This page shows that two measures go together. It does not show that Expected schooling changes Life expectancy, or the reverse. These figures also describe countries, not individual people. See the ecological fallacy.

More links with Expected schooling or Life expectancy