Duration of compulsory education in Mexico
Mexico: Duration of compulsory education was 14 years in 2025. ▲ Rising
Duration of compulsory education in Mexico, 1998–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
Mexico recorded 14 years for duration of compulsory education 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 Mexico peaked at 14 years in 2012 and was at its lowest, 9 years, in 1998.
Mexico ranks 8th of 205 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 28 years of available data.
Duration of compulsory education in Mexico, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 9 years | — |
| 1999 | 9 years | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 9 years | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 11 years | +22.2% |
| 2002 | 11 years | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 11 years | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 11 years | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 11 years | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 11 years | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 11 years | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 11 years | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 11 years | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 11 years | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 11 years | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 14 years | +27.3% |
| 2013 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 14 years | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 14 years | +0.0% |
Mexico compared with similar countries
- Mexico's 14 years is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 10 years, 1.4× the median. (56 countries reporting)
- Mexico's 14 years is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 12 years, 1.2× the median. (40 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 9 years | 9 years | 9 years | 2 |
| 2000s | 10.8 years | 9 years | 11 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 13.4 years | 11 years | 14 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 14 years | 14 years | 14 years | 6 |
Countries ranked near Mexico
More education data for Mexico
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 868,550 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 96,349 (2025)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 2.14 million (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 2.11 million (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 13.99 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 13.19 million (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is duration of compulsory education in Mexico?
- Duration of compulsory education in Mexico was 14 years in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest duration of compulsory education recorded in Mexico?
- The highest recorded value was 14 years in 2012.
- What is the lowest duration of compulsory education recorded in Mexico?
- The lowest recorded value was 9 years in 1998.
- How does Mexico rank for duration of compulsory education?
- Mexico ranks 8th out of 205 countries with data for 2025.
- Is duration of compulsory education rising or falling in Mexico?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Mexico data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Duration of compulsory education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 28 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The number of years of compulsory education is based on students starting at the earliest entrance age, studying full-time, and advancing without grade repetition or skipping.