Compulsory education, duration in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)
Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries): Compulsory education, duration was 14 years in 2025. ▲ Rising
Compulsory education, duration in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries), 1998–2025
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in years.
Analysis
In 2025, compulsory education, duration in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) stood at 14 years. That is the highest value across all 28 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, compulsory education, duration in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) peaked at 14 years in 2015 and was at its lowest, 9 years, in 1998.
Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) ranks 1st of 44 groups on this measure, 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 & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries), 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 | 10 years | +11.1% |
| 2009 | 10 years | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 11 years | +10.0% |
| 2011 | 12 years | +9.1% |
| 2012 | 13 years | +8.3% |
| 2013 | 13 years | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 13 years | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 14 years | +7.7% |
| 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 | 9.2 years | 9 years | 10 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 13.2 years | 11 years | 14 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 14 years | 14 years | 14 years | 6 |
Countries ranked near Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)
More education data for Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)
- Population ages 15-64 67.7% (2025)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 3.22 million (2024)
- Population ages 0-14 22.3% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 104.7% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, per capita 0.005 units per person (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 3.22 million (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 104.7% (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, male 104.8% (2024)
- Labor force, total 318.69 million (2025)
All data for Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) →
Frequently asked questions
- What is compulsory education, duration in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- Compulsory education, duration in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) 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 & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- The highest recorded value was 14 years in 2015.
- What is the lowest compulsory education, duration recorded in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- The lowest recorded value was 9 years in 1998.
- How does Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) rank for compulsory education, duration?
- Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) ranks 1st out of 44 groups with data for 2025.
- Is compulsory education, duration rising or falling in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) 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.