Compulsory education, duration in OECD members
OECD members: Compulsory education, duration was 11 years in 2025. ▲ Rising
Compulsory education, duration in OECD members, 1998–2025
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in years.
Analysis
OECD members recorded 11 years for compulsory education, duration in 2025. That is the highest value across all 28 years on record.
That represents a change of up 10.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, compulsory education, duration in OECD members peaked at 11 years in 2017 and was at its lowest, 10 years, in 1998.
That places OECD members 4th out of 46 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.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 10 years | 10 years | 10 years | 2 |
| 2000s | 10 years | 10 years | 10 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 10.3 years | 10 years | 11 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 11 years | 11 years | 11 years | 6 |
Countries ranked near OECD members
More education data for OECD members
- Population ages 15-64 64.5% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 16.4% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 100.7% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 6.28 million (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 100.4% (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, male 100.9% (2024)
- Labor force, total 709.91 million (2025)
- Labor force, female 44.8% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index 0.9973 GPI (2020)
- School enrollment, secondary 105.4% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is compulsory education, duration in OECD members?
- Compulsory education, duration in OECD members 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 OECD members?
- The highest recorded value was 11 years in 2017.
- What is the lowest compulsory education, duration recorded in OECD members?
- The lowest recorded value was 10 years in 1998.
- How does OECD members rank for compulsory education, duration?
- OECD members ranks 4th out of 46 groups with data for 2025.
- Is compulsory education, duration rising or falling in OECD members?
- Over the last ten years it is up 10.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this OECD members 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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About this data
Duration of compulsory education is the number of years that children are legally obliged to attend school.