Compulsory education, duration in World
World: Compulsory education, duration was 10 years in 2025. ▲ Rising
Compulsory education, duration in World, 1998–2025
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in years.
Analysis
World recorded 10 years for compulsory education, duration 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 World peaked at 10 years in 2015 and was at its lowest, 9 years, in 1998.
World ranks 11th of 46 groups on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 28 years of available data.
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 | 9.5 years | 9 years | 10 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 10 years | 10 years | 10 years | 6 |
Countries ranked near World
More education data for World
- Population ages 0-14 24.4% (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 65.2% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 102.2% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 34.10 million (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 101.5% (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, male 102.8% (2024)
- Labor force, female 40.2% (2025)
- Labor force, total 3.74 billion (2025)
- School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index 0.9825 GPI (2020)
- School enrollment, secondary 77.3% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is compulsory education, duration in World?
- Compulsory education, duration in World was 10 years in 2025, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
- What is the highest compulsory education, duration recorded in World?
- The highest recorded value was 10 years in 2015.
- What is the lowest compulsory education, duration recorded in World?
- The lowest recorded value was 9 years in 1998.
- How does World rank for compulsory education, duration?
- World ranks 11th out of 46 groups with data for 2025.
- Is compulsory education, duration rising or falling in World?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this World 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.