School life expectancy (SLE) in Türkiye fell 2.4% in 2025 from a year earlier, reaching 16.8 years, according to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) on Tuesday.

SLE measures the expected number of years a person of primary school entrance age is likely to spend in education, from primary through the highest level of education.

The decline was recorded for both males and females. SLE for males fell 2.5% to 16.3 years, while the figure for females decreased 2.4% to 17.2 years.

Türkiye above OECD average

Türkiye's SLE remained above the OECD average, according to the latest available OECD data for 2024.

The average SLE from primary to tertiary education across OECD countries stood at 16.6 years, compared with 17.2 years in Türkiye.

Greece recorded the highest SLE among OECD countries at 20.9 years, while Colombia had the lowest at 14.3 years.

Bayburt, Karabük record highest provincial figures

At the provincial level, Bayburt and Karabük recorded the highest SLE in Türkiye in 2025, at 18.6 years each.

They were followed by Istanbul at 18.4 years and Tunceli at 18.3 years.

Şanlıurfa recorded the lowest SLE at 13.8 years, followed by Şırnak at 14.1 years and Muş at 14.3 years.

For males, Bayburt had the highest SLE, followed by Erzincan, Karabük, Istanbul and Bolu.

Among females, Tunceli ranked first, followed by Karabük, Istanbul, Rize and Ankara.

At the lower end of the provincial rankings for males were Şanlıurfa, Ağrı, Şırnak, Muş and Hakkari. For females, the lowest figures were recorded in Şanlıurfa, Şırnak, Muş, Mardin and Ağrı.

Gender gap continues to shift in favor of females

The gender parity index for school life expectancy, calculated as the ratio of female SLE to male SLE, reached 1.05 in 2025 for ISCED levels 1-8.

The index stood at 0.97 in 2018, meaning it increased by 0.08 points over the period and continued to shift in favor of females.

Iğdır recorded the highest gender parity index at 1.13, followed by Tunceli at 1.11 and Bartın at 1.10. Çankırı and Kars both recorded 1.09.

The lowest figures were recorded in Bitlis at 0.97; Şanlıurfa, Siirt and Bayburt at 0.99; and Muş, Erzurum and Batman at 1.00. (ILKHA)