Compulsory education, duration in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)
Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income): Compulsory education, duration was 8 years in 2025. ▲ Rising
Compulsory education, duration in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income), 1998–2025
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in years.
Analysis
In 2025, compulsory education, duration in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) stood at 8 years.
Compared with earlier readings it is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, compulsory education, duration in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) peaked at 9 years in 2006 and was at its lowest, 7 years, in 1998.
That places Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 38th out of 44 groups with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 28 years of available data.
Compulsory education, duration in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income), year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 7 years | — |
| 1999 | 7 years | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 7 years | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 8 years | +14.3% |
| 2002 | 8 years | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 7.5 years | -6.2% |
| 2004 | 8.5 years | +13.3% |
| 2005 | 8 years | -5.9% |
| 2006 | 9 years | +12.5% |
| 2007 | 8.5 years | -5.6% |
| 2008 | 8 years | -5.9% |
| 2009 | 8 years | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 8 years | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 8 years | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 8 years | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 8 years | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 8 years | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 8 years | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 8 years | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 8 years | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 8 years | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 8 years | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 8 years | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 8 years | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 8 years | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 8 years | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 8 years | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 8 years | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 7 years | 7 years | 7 years | 2 |
| 2000s | 8.05 years | 7 years | 9 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 8 years | 8 years | 8 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 8 years | 8 years | 8 years | 6 |
More education data for Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 5.14 million (2024)
- Population ages 15-64 56.4% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 40.4% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 97.1% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 5.14 million (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, per capita 0.004 units per person (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 96.0% (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, male 98.2% (2024)
- Labor force, female 46.9% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is compulsory education, duration in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
- Compulsory education, duration in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) was 8 years in 2025, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
- What is the highest compulsory education, duration recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
- The highest recorded value was 9 years in 2006.
- What is the lowest compulsory education, duration recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
- The lowest recorded value was 7 years in 1998.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) rank for compulsory education, duration?
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) ranks 38th out of 44 groups with data for 2025.
- Is compulsory education, duration rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa (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.