Duration of compulsory education in Tanzania

Tanzania: Duration of compulsory education was 7 years in 2025. ▬ Flat

Latest (2025)
7 years
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
173rd
of 205 countries
All-time high
7 years
in 1998
All-time low
7 years
in 1998
Years of data
28
1998–2025

Duration of compulsory education in Tanzania, 1998–2025

024681998201120251998: 7 years1999: 7 years2000: 7 years2001: 7 years2002: 7 years2003: 7 years2004: 7 years2005: 7 years2006: 7 years2007: 7 years2008: 7 years2009: 7 years2010: 7 years2011: 7 years2012: 7 years2013: 7 years2014: 7 years2015: 7 years2016: 7 years2017: 7 years2018: 7 years2019: 7 years2020: 7 years2021: 7 years2022: 7 years2023: 7 years2024: 7 years2025: 7 years

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.

Analysis

In 2025, duration of compulsory education in Tanzania stood at 7 years. 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 Tanzania peaked at 7 years in 1998 and was at its lowest, 7 years, in 1998.

Tanzania ranks 173rd of 205 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest 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 Tanzania

  1. 173 Eswatini 7 years compare
  2. 173 Lesotho 7 years compare
  3. 173 Namibia 7 years compare
  4. 173 Nicaragua 7 years compare
  5. 173 Trinidad and Tobago 7 years compare
  6. 173 Uganda 7 years compare
  7. 173 Zambia 7 years compare
  8. 173 Zimbabwe 7 years compare

See the full ranking of 205 places →

More education data for Tanzania

All data for Tanzania →

Frequently asked questions

What is duration of compulsory education in Tanzania?
Duration of compulsory education in Tanzania 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 Tanzania?
The highest recorded value was 7 years in 1998.
What is the lowest duration of compulsory education recorded in Tanzania?
The lowest recorded value was 7 years in 1998.
How does Tanzania rank for duration of compulsory education?
Tanzania ranks 173rd out of 205 countries with data for 2025.
Is duration of compulsory education rising or falling in Tanzania?
Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
Where does this Tanzania 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.

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About this data

Indicator
Duration of compulsory education
Unit
years
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
205 places, 5,383 data points, 1975–2025
Last refreshed

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.