Compulsory education, duration in North America
North America: Compulsory education, duration was 11 years in 2025. ▬ Flat
Compulsory education, duration in North America, 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 North America is 11 years, measured in 2025. 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 North America peaked at 11 years in 1998 and was at its lowest, 11 years, in 1998.
North America ranks 4th of 46 groups on this measure, in the top 10%.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 11 years | 11 years | 11 years | 2 |
| 2000s | 11 years | 11 years | 11 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 11 years | 11 years | 11 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 11 years | 11 years | 11 years | 6 |
Countries ranked near North America
More education data for North America
- Population ages 15-64 64.5% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 16.9% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 96.8% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 2.04 million (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 96.2% (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, male 97.4% (2024)
- Labor force, female 45.8% (2025)
- Labor force, total 197.68 million (2025)
- School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index 0.995 GPI (2020)
- School enrollment, secondary 98.1% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is compulsory education, duration in North America?
- Compulsory education, duration in North America was 11 years in 2025, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
- What is the highest compulsory education, duration recorded in North America?
- The highest recorded value was 11 years in 1998.
- What is the lowest compulsory education, duration recorded in North America?
- The lowest recorded value was 11 years in 1998.
- How does North America rank for compulsory education, duration?
- North America ranks 4th out of 46 groups with data for 2025.
- Is compulsory education, duration rising or falling in North America?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this North America 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.