Duration of compulsory education in Zambia
Zambia: Duration of compulsory education was 7 years in 2025. ▬ Flat
Duration of compulsory education in Zambia, 1998–2025
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 Zambia stood at 7 years. That is the highest value across all 28 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, duration of compulsory education in Zambia peaked at 7 years in 1998 and was at its lowest, 7 years, in 1998.
Zambia 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 Zambia
More education data for Zambia
- Duration of pre-primary education 4 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 57.0% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 41.0% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 14 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 7 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 115.6% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 116,859 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 4.04 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 118.3% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is duration of compulsory education in Zambia?
- Duration of compulsory education in Zambia 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 Zambia?
- The highest recorded value was 7 years in 1998.
- What is the lowest duration of compulsory education recorded in Zambia?
- The lowest recorded value was 7 years in 1998.
- How does Zambia rank for duration of compulsory education?
- Zambia ranks 173rd out of 205 countries with data for 2025.
- Is duration of compulsory education rising or falling in Zambia?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this Zambia 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.