Compulsory education, duration in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)
Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income): Compulsory education, duration was 14 years in 2025. ▲ Rising
Compulsory education, duration in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income), 1998–2025
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in years.
Analysis
The most recent figure for compulsory education, duration in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) is 14 years, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 28 years on record.
The figure is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, compulsory education, duration in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) peaked at 14 years in 2014 and was at its lowest, 9 years, in 1998.
That places Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) 1st out of 44 groups with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 28 years of available data.
Compulsory education, duration in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income), year by year
| 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 | 10 years | +11.1% |
| 2011 | 12 years | +20.0% |
| 2012 | 13 years | +8.3% |
| 2013 | 13 years | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 14 years | +7.7% |
| 2015 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 14 years | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 9 years | 9 years | 9 years | 2 |
| 2000s | 9 years | 9 years | 9 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 13.2 years | 10 years | 14 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 14 years | 14 years | 14 years | 6 |
Countries ranked near Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)
- 1 Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of 17 years compare
- 2 Guatemala 16 years compare
- 3 Dominican Republic 15 years compare
- 3 Ecuador 15 years compare
- 3 El Salvador 15 years compare
- 3 Israel 15 years compare
- 3 Tonga 15 years compare
More education data for Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)
- Population ages 15-64 67.7% (2025)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 2.79 million (2024)
- Population ages 0-14 22.4% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 104.3% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, per capita 0.0045 units per person (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 2.79 million (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 104.2% (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, male 104.5% (2024)
- Labor force, total 305.57 million (2025)
All data for Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) →
Frequently asked questions
- What is compulsory education, duration in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)?
- Compulsory education, duration in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) was 14 years in 2025, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
- What is the highest compulsory education, duration recorded in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)?
- The highest recorded value was 14 years in 2014.
- What is the lowest compulsory education, duration recorded in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)?
- The lowest recorded value was 9 years in 1998.
- How does Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) rank for compulsory education, duration?
- Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) ranks 1st out of 44 groups with data for 2025.
- Is compulsory education, duration rising or falling in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Latin America & Caribbean (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.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 28 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Duration of compulsory education is the number of years that children are legally obliged to attend school.