Which has higher average years of schooling, Germany or Iceland?

Germany, at 14.09 years against 13.77 years in Iceland as of 2020.

What is the difference in average years of schooling between Germany and Iceland?

0.32 years, with Germany ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Germany and Iceland?

15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.

Where does this data come from?

Leandro Prados de la Escosura (2021) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Average years of schooling. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Germany vs Iceland: Average years of schooling

Germany

14.09 years

in 2020

Iceland

13.77 years

in 2020

Germany rank

1st

Iceland rank

4th

Average years of schooling over time

Germany
Iceland

How they compare

Germany currently reports 14.09 years against 13.77 years in Iceland, a difference of 0.32 years.

Across all 15 years both countries report, Germany has been ahead every year.

Germany ranks 1st and Iceland ranks 4th of 162 countries.

Germany has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Germany	Iceland	Difference	Ahead
1950s	8.79 years	5.1 years	3.7 years	Germany
1960s	10.05 years	6.05 years	4 years	Germany
1970s	11.41 years	7.18 years	4.23 years	Germany
1980s	12.52 years	8.53 years	3.99 years	Germany
1990s	13.06 years	9.78 years	3.28 years	Germany
2000s	12.91 years	10.9 years	2.01 years	Germany
2010s	13.08 years	11.79 years	1.29 years	Germany
2020s	14.09 years	13.77 years	0.3238 years	Germany

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher average years of schooling, Germany or Iceland?: Germany, at 14.09 years against 13.77 years in Iceland as of 2020.
What is the difference in average years of schooling between Germany and Iceland?: 0.32 years, with Germany ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Germany and Iceland?: 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
How do Germany and Iceland rank globally for average years of schooling?: Germany ranks 1st and Iceland ranks 4th of 162 countries.
Where does this data come from?: Leandro Prados de la Escosura (2021) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Average years of schooling. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Germany vs Iceland: Average years of schooling. Statizoid, drawing on Leandro Prados de la Escosura (2021) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 09 September 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/compare/years-of-schooling-prados-de-la-escosura/germany/iceland/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://education.statizoid.com/compare/years-of-schooling-prados-de-la-escosura/germany/iceland/">Germany vs Iceland: Average years of schooling</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Average years of schooling
Unit: years
Source: Leandro Prados de la Escosura (2021) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 163 places, 3,421 data points, 1870–2020
Last refreshed: 28 August 2026

Average number of years of total schooling (primary, secondary, and tertiary) for the population aged 15 and over.