Duration of compulsory education in years in Italy
Italy: Duration of compulsory education in years was 12 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
12
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
8th
of 73 countries
All-time high
12
in 2003
All-time low
8
in 1998
Years of data
28
1998–2025
Duration of compulsory education in years in Italy, 1998–2025
Source: UNICEF.
Analysis
Italy recorded 12 for duration of compulsory education in years 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, duration of compulsory education in years in Italy peaked at 12 in 2003 and was at its lowest, 8, in 1998.
That places Italy 8th out of 73 countries 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.
Duration of compulsory education in years in Italy, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 8 | — |
| 1999 | 8 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 8 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 8 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 8 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 12 | +50.0% |
| 2004 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 12 | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 8 | 8 | 8 | 2 |
| 2000s | 10.8 | 8 | 12 | 10 |
| 2010s | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 |
| 2020s | 12 | 12 | 12 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Italy
More education data for Italy
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 250,961 (2024)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 63.2% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 11.7% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 11 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- Primary secondary enrollment completion rates, gaps filled 103.57 (2023)
- School enrollment, primary 103.6% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is duration of compulsory education in years in Italy?
- Duration of compulsory education in years in Italy was 12 in 2025, according to UNICEF.
- What is the highest duration of compulsory education in years recorded in Italy?
- The highest recorded value was 12 in 2003.
- What is the lowest duration of compulsory education in years recorded in Italy?
- The lowest recorded value was 8 in 1998.
- How does Italy rank for duration of compulsory education in years?
- Italy ranks 8th out of 73 countries with data for 2025.
- Is duration of compulsory education in years rising or falling in Italy?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Italy data come from?
- The figures come from UNICEF, published as part of Duration of compulsory education in years. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 28 observations, free to reuse under UNICEF Terms of Use (attribution required).