Statizoid

Average years of schooling by country

Average years of formal education for individuals aged 15-64.

Countries reporting
111
Highest
13.74 years
Ireland
Lowest
3.04 years
Niger
Median
9.44 years
Years covered
151
1870–2020
Data points
3,441

What the numbers show

Average years of schooling is currently reported for 111 countries. The highest value is 13.74 years in Ireland; the lowest is 3.04 years in Niger.

The median across all reporting countries is 9.44 years, and the mean is 9.31 years.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 5.

Over the past decade 99 countries rose and 12 fell. The largest increase was in Mozambique (up 107.9%), and the largest decrease in Guyana (down 5.3%).

Average years of schooling: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Ireland 13.74 years 2020 up 10.4% volatile
2 South Korea 13.68 years 2020 up 5.6% volatile
3 Iceland 13.53 years 2020 up 17.4% volatile
4 United States 13.32 years 2020 up 0.6% rising
5 Germany 13.1 years 2020 up 4.1% rising
6 Switzerland 12.97 years 2020 up 0.4% rising
7 Australia 12.93 years 2020 up 10.6% volatile
7 Canada 12.93 years 2020 up 1.5% rising
7 Czechia 12.93 years 2020 up 1.0% rising
10 United Kingdom 12.9 years 2020 up 3.5% volatile
11 Hong Kong 12.83 years 2020 up 5.2% volatile
11 Japan 12.83 years 2020 up 3.1% volatile
13 Taiwan 12.76 years 2020 up 6.7% volatile
14 Cyprus 12.42 years 2020 up 5.6% volatile
15 Malta 12.09 years 2020 up 9.3% volatile
16 Norway 12.08 years 2020 up 3.7% rising
17 Poland 12.01 years 2020 up 3.4% volatile
18 Hungary 11.96 years 2020 down 0.2% rising
18 Malaysia 11.96 years 2020 up 9.8% volatile
20 Sweden 11.93 years 2020 down 0.2% rising
21 France 11.89 years 2020 up 4.9% volatile
22 Greece 11.86 years 2020 up 4.4% volatile
23 Netherlands 11.82 years 2020 up 0.9% rising
24 Serbia 11.72 years 2020 up 1.7% volatile
25 Denmark 11.69 years 2020 down 2.3% volatile
26 Cuba 11.61 years 2020 up 5.0% volatile
27 Russia 11.6 years 2020 down 3.5% volatile
28 Belgium 11.57 years 2020 up 2.5% volatile
29 Luxembourg 11.53 years 2020 up 1.8% volatile
30 Fiji 11.52 years 2020 up 11.3% volatile
31 Spain 11.51 years 2020 up 7.1% volatile
31 Italy 11.51 years 2020 up 7.5% volatile
33 Romania 11.28 years 2020 up 0.4% volatile
33 Trinidad and Tobago 11.28 years 2020 up 2.9% volatile
35 Finland 11.05 years 2020 up 3.2% volatile
36 Jordan 10.81 years 2020 up 9.0% volatile
36 New Zealand 10.81 years 2020 down 2.8% rising
38 Bulgaria 10.75 years 2020 down 2.9% volatile
39 Chile 10.74 years 2020 up 3.8% volatile
40 Belize 10.71 years 2020 down 5.1% volatile
41 South Africa 10.47 years 2020 up 5.9% volatile
42 Panama 10.44 years 2020 up 7.4% volatile
43 Mauritius 10.4 years 2020 up 10.2% volatile
44 Austria 10.39 years 2020 up 2.6% rising
45 Sri Lanka 10.33 years 2020 down 3.2% volatile
46 Albania 10.32 years 2020 down 1.1% volatile
47 Colombia 10.2 years 2020 up 9.1% volatile
48 Mexico 10.18 years 2020 up 10.9% volatile
49 Jamaica 10.1 years 2020 down 2.2% volatile
50 Peru 9.96 years 2020 up 7.3% volatile
51 Argentina 9.86 years 2020 up 1.5% volatile
52 Iran 9.8 years 2020 up 7.1% volatile
53 Barbados 9.67 years 2020 up 1.0% volatile
54 Libya 9.57 years 2020 up 13.5% volatile
55 Portugal 9.56 years 2020 up 9.8% volatile
56 Philippines 9.44 years 2020 up 9.1% volatile
57 Venezuela 9.33 years 2020 up 6.3% volatile
58 Thailand 9.32 years 2020 up 10.0% volatile
59 Tunisia 9.29 years 2020 up 16.1% volatile
60 Costa Rica 9.12 years 2020 up 8.2% volatile
61 Ecuador 9.07 years 2020 up 13.1% volatile
62 Bolivia 9.06 years 2020 up 5.7% volatile
62 Indonesia 9.06 years 2020 up 13.0% volatile
64 Dominican Republic 9.04 years 2020 up 11.3% volatile
65 China 8.99 years 2020 up 9.0% volatile
66 Paraguay 8.83 years 2020 up 10.5% volatile
67 Uruguay 8.76 years 2020 up 1.7% volatile
68 Reunion 8.71 years 2020 up 5.1% volatile
69 Guyana 8.52 years 2020 down 5.3% volatile
70 Turkey 8.49 years 2020 up 14.1% volatile
71 Ghana 8.39 years 2020 up 9.5% volatile
72 Zambia 8.37 years 2020 up 13.1% volatile
73 Zimbabwe 8.32 years 2020 up 5.9% volatile
74 Iraq 8.27 years 2020 up 11.3% volatile
75 Algeria 8.18 years 2020 up 16.9% volatile
76 El Salvador 8.1 years 2020 up 0.5% volatile
77 Egypt 8.01 years 2020 up 7.7% volatile
78 Brazil 8 years 2020 down 2.1% volatile
79 Syria 7.92 years 2020 up 12.0% volatile
80 India 7.8 years 2020 up 18.4% volatile
81 Nicaragua 7.76 years 2020 up 13.8% volatile
82 Togo 7.68 years 2020 up 26.1% volatile
83 Honduras 7.51 years 2020 up 13.8% volatile
84 Cameroon 7.37 years 2020 up 15.0% volatile
85 Bangladesh 7.23 years 2020 up 16.2% volatile
86 Lesotho 6.88 years 2020 up 13.2% volatile
87 Morocco 6.83 years 2020 up 29.6% volatile
88 Kenya 6.73 years 2020 up 4.0% volatile
89 Uganda 6.69 years 2020 up 14.0% volatile
90 Kuwait 6.62 years 2020 up 3.6% volatile
91 Myanmar 6.48 years 2020 up 26.8% volatile
92 Eswatini 6.46 years 2020 up 21.2% volatile
93 Pakistan 6.41 years 2020 up 22.8% volatile
94 Benin 6.27 years 2020 up 37.2% volatile
95 Guatemala 6.26 years 2020 up 20.2% volatile
96 Nepal 6.19 years 2020 up 39.4% volatile
97 Cote d'Ivoire 6.05 years 2020 up 22.7% volatile
98 Haiti 5.95 years 2020 up 15.1% volatile
99 Cambodia 5.81 years 2020 up 17.6% volatile
100 Liberia 5.8 years 2020 up 33.3% volatile
101 Afghanistan 5.69 years 2020 up 44.8% volatile
102 Yemen 5.56 years 2020 up 44.8% volatile
103 Malawi 5.41 years 2020 up 8.0% volatile
104 Sierra Leone 4.99 years 2020 up 16.6% volatile
105 Gambia 4.92 years 2020 up 25.5% volatile
106 Democratic Republic of Congo 4.85 years 2020 up 28.0% volatile
107 Senegal 4.4 years 2020 up 41.5% volatile
108 Sudan 4.38 years 2020 up 25.5% volatile
109 Mozambique 4.22 years 2020 up 107.9% volatile
110 Mali 3.55 years 2020 up 65.9% volatile
111 Niger 3.04 years 2020 up 55.9% volatile

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Average years of schooling by country. Statizoid, drawing on Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 27 September 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/mean-years-of-schooling-long-run/

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About this data

Indicator
Average years of schooling
Unit
years
Source
Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
111 places, 3,441 data points, 1870–2020
Last refreshed

Average years of formal education for individuals aged 15-64.