Compulsory education, duration in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)

Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income): Compulsory education, duration was 10 years in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
10 years
Change on year
unchanged
Rank
9th
of 44 groups
All-time high
10 years
in 2022
All-time low
9 years
in 1998
Years of data
28
1998–2025

Compulsory education, duration in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income), 1998–2025

02468101998201120251998: 9 years1999: 9 years2000: 9 years2001: 9 years2002: 9 years2003: 9 years2004: 9 years2005: 9 years2006: 9 years2007: 9 years2008: 9 years2009: 9 years2010: 9 years2011: 9 years2012: 9 years2013: 9 years2014: 9 years2015: 9 years2016: 9 years2017: 9.5 years2018: 9.5 years2019: 9.5 years2020: 9.5 years2021: 9.5 years2022: 10 years2023: 10 years2024: 10 years2025: 10 years

Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in years.

Analysis

Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) recorded 10 years for compulsory education, duration in 2025. That is the highest value across all 28 years on record.

The figure is up 11.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, compulsory education, duration in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) peaked at 10 years in 2022 and was at its lowest, 9 years, in 1998.

Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) ranks 9th of 44 groups on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 28 years of available data.

Compulsory education, duration in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income), year by year

Annual values for Compulsory education, duration (years) in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income), 1998 to 2025.
Year years Change
1998 9 years
1999 9 years +0.0%
2000 9 years +0.0%
2001 9 years +0.0%
2002 9 years +0.0%
2003 9 years +0.0%
2004 9 years +0.0%
2005 9 years +0.0%
2006 9 years +0.0%
2007 9 years +0.0%
2008 9 years +0.0%
2009 9 years +0.0%
2010 9 years +0.0%
2011 9 years +0.0%
2012 9 years +0.0%
2013 9 years +0.0%
2014 9 years +0.0%
2015 9 years +0.0%
2016 9 years +0.0%
2017 9.5 years +5.6%
2018 9.5 years +0.0%
2019 9.5 years +0.0%
2020 9.5 years +0.0%
2021 9.5 years +0.0%
2022 10 years +5.3%
2023 10 years +0.0%
2024 10 years +0.0%
2025 10 years +0.0%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 9 years 9 years 9 years 2
2000s 9 years 9 years 9 years 10
2010s 9.15 years 9 years 9.5 years 10
2020s 9.83 years 9.5 years 10 years 6

Countries ranked near Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)

  1. 8 Argentina 14 years compare
  2. 8 Bolivia, Plurinational State of 14 years compare
  3. 8 Brazil 14 years compare
  4. 8 Curacao 14 years compare
  5. 8 Mexico 14 years compare
  6. 8 Naoero 14 years compare
  7. 8 Peru 14 years compare
  8. 8 Sint Maarten (Dutch part) 14 years compare
  9. 8 Uruguay 14 years compare

See the full ranking of 243 places →

More education data for Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)

All data for Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) →

Frequently asked questions

What is compulsory education, duration in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)?
Compulsory education, duration in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) was 10 years in 2025, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
What is the highest compulsory education, duration recorded in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)?
The highest recorded value was 10 years in 2022.
What is the lowest compulsory education, duration recorded in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)?
The lowest recorded value was 9 years in 1998.
How does Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) rank for compulsory education, duration?
Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) ranks 9th out of 44 groups with data for 2025.
Is compulsory education, duration rising or falling in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)?
Over the last ten years it is up 11.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) data come from?
The figures come from Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as part of Compulsory education, duration (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Compulsory education, duration in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income). Statizoid, drawing on Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Retrieved 30 August 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/compulsory-education-duration-years/europe-and-central-asia-excluding-high-income/

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About this data

Indicator
Compulsory education, duration (years)
Unit
years
Source
Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
243 places, 6,506 data points, 1975–2025
Last refreshed

Duration of compulsory education is the number of years that children are legally obliged to attend school.