Official entrance age to compulsory education in Belgium
Belgium: Official entrance age to compulsory education was 5 years in 2025. ▼ Falling
Latest (2025)
5 years
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
129th
of 200 countries
All-time high
6 years
in 1998
All-time low
5 years
in 2021
Years of data
28
1998–2025
Official entrance age to compulsory education in Belgium, 1998–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
In 2025, official entrance age to compulsory education in Belgium stood at 5 years. That is the lowest value across all 28 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 16.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, official entrance age to compulsory education in Belgium peaked at 6 years in 1998 and was at its lowest, 5 years, in 2021.
That places Belgium 129th out of 200 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 28 years of available data.
Official entrance age to compulsory education in Belgium, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 6 years | — |
| 1999 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 5 years | -16.7% |
| 2022 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 5 years | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 6 years | 6 years | 6 years | 2 |
| 2000s | 6 years | 6 years | 6 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 6 years | 6 years | 6 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.17 years | 5 years | 6 years | 6 |
Countries ranked near Belgium
- 129 Angola 5 years compare
- 129 Antigua and Barbuda 5 years compare
- 129 Austria 5 years compare
- 129 Bahamas 5 years compare
- 129 Belize 5 years compare
- 129 Bermuda 5 years compare
- 129 Barbados 5 years compare
- 129 Colombia 5 years compare
- 129 Cyprus 5 years compare
- 129 Czechia 5 years compare
- 129 Dominica 5 years compare
- 129 United Kingdom 5 years compare
- 129 Greece 5 years compare
- 129 Grenada 5 years compare
- 129 Honduras 5 years compare
- 129 Saint Kitts and Nevis 5 years compare
- 129 Saint Lucia 5 years compare
- 129 Sri Lanka 5 years compare
- 129 Latvia 5 years compare
- 129 Macao 5 years compare
- 129 Marshall Islands 5 years compare
- 129 Malta 5 years compare
- 129 Myanmar 5 years compare
- 129 Mauritius 5 years compare
- 129 Nicaragua 5 years compare
- 129 Netherlands 5 years compare
- 129 Pakistan 5 years compare
- 129 Philippines 5 years compare
- 129 Puerto Rico 5 years compare
- 129 Paraguay 5 years compare
- 129 Slovakia 5 years compare
- 129 Trinidad and Tobago 5 years compare
- 129 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 5 years compare
- 129 British Virgin Islands 5 years compare
- 129 Vietnam 5 years compare
- 129 Samoa 5 years compare
More education data for Belgium
- Theoretical duration of upper secondary education (years), annual 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of secondary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), gaps filled 2,022 tertiary education (2023)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), annual growth 0.0495 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 80,763 (2023)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 63.3% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 15.7% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is official entrance age to compulsory education in Belgium?
- Official entrance age to compulsory education in Belgium was 5 years in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest official entrance age to compulsory education recorded in Belgium?
- The highest recorded value was 6 years in 1998.
- What is the lowest official entrance age to compulsory education recorded in Belgium?
- The lowest recorded value was 5 years in 2021.
- How does Belgium rank for official entrance age to compulsory education?
- Belgium ranks 129th out of 200 countries with data for 2025.
- Is official entrance age to compulsory education rising or falling in Belgium?
- Over the last ten years it is down 16.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Belgium data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Official entrance age to compulsory education (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 28 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release