Duration of compulsory education in Namibia
Namibia: Duration of compulsory education was 7 years in 2025. ▬ Flat
Duration of compulsory education in Namibia, 1998–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
The most recent figure for duration of compulsory education in Namibia is 7 years, measured 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 Namibia peaked at 7 years in 1998 and was at its lowest, 7 years, in 1998.
Namibia ranks 173rd of 205 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 7 years | 7 years | 7 years | 2 |
| 2000s | 7 years | 7 years | 7 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 7 years | 7 years | 7 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 7 years | 7 years | 7 years | 6 |
Countries ranked near Namibia
More education data for Namibia
- Duration of pre-primary education 2 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 5 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 59.6% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 36.7% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 14 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 7 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 120.7% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 21,240 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 3.21 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 117.9% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is duration of compulsory education in Namibia?
- Duration of compulsory education in Namibia was 7 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 Namibia?
- The highest recorded value was 7 years in 1998.
- What is the lowest duration of compulsory education recorded in Namibia?
- The lowest recorded value was 7 years in 1998.
- How does Namibia rank for duration of compulsory education?
- Namibia ranks 173rd out of 205 countries with data for 2025.
- Is duration of compulsory education rising or falling in Namibia?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this Namibia 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.