Statizoid

Official entrance age to post-secondary non-tertiary education (years) by country

Age at which students would enter post-secondary education, assuming they had started at the official entrance age for the lowest level of education, had studied full-time throughout and had progressed through the system without repeating or skipping a grade.

Countries reporting
169
Highest
20 years
Switzerland
Lowest
14 years
San Marino
Median
18 years
Years covered
51
1970–2020
Data points
3,190

What the numbers show

Official entrance age to post-secondary non-tertiary education (years) is currently reported for 169 countries. The highest value is 20 years in Switzerland; the lowest is 14 years in San Marino.

The median across all reporting countries is 18 years, and the mean is 18.04 years.

Over the past decade 17 countries rose and 11 fell. The largest increase was in Netherlands (up 18.8%), and the largest decrease in Israel (down 10.0%).

Official entrance age to post-secondary non-tertiary education: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Switzerland 20 years 2020 up 11.1% rising
1 Denmark 20 years 2012 unchanged flat
1 Iceland 20 years 2020 down 4.8% falling
1 Niger 20 years 2019 unchanged flat
1 Tanzania 20 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Afghanistan 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Burkina Faso 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Bulgaria 19 years 2019 unchanged rising
6 Bosnia and Herzegovina 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Brunei 19 years 2012 unchanged flat
6 Botswana 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Cote d'Ivoire 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Cameroon 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Congo 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Comoros 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Czechia 19 years 2020 unchanged flat
6 Germany 19 years 2020 unchanged flat
6 Estonia 19 years 2020 up 5.6% rising
6 Ethiopia 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Finland 19 years 2020 unchanged flat
6 Micronesia (country) 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Gambia 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Haiti 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Hungary 19 years 2020 up 5.6% rising
6 Liechtenstein 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Lithuania 19 years 2020 unchanged flat
6 Latvia 19 years 2020 unchanged flat
6 North Macedonia 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Mali 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Montenegro 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Mauritania 19 years 2012 up 5.6% rising
6 Netherlands 19 years 2020 up 18.8% rising
6 Norway 19 years 2020 unchanged flat
6 Papua New Guinea 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Poland 19 years 2020 unchanged flat
6 Romania 19 years 2020 unchanged flat
6 Rwanda 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Senegal 19 years 2019 unchanged falling
6 Solomon Islands 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Sierra Leone 19 years 2019 up 5.6% rising
6 Serbia 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Suriname 19 years 2019 up 18.8% rising
6 Slovakia 19 years 2020 unchanged flat
6 Slovenia 19 years 2012 unchanged flat
6 Sweden 19 years 2020 unchanged flat
6 Chad 19 years 2019 unchanged rising
6 Togo 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Tunisia 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Uganda 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Yemen 19 years 2007 unchanged flat
6 South Africa 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
6 Zambia 19 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Andorra 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Azerbaijan 18 years 2020 up 5.9% rising
53 Belgium 18 years 2020 unchanged flat
53 Benin 18 years 2019 down 5.3% falling
53 Bangladesh 18 years 2019 up 12.5% rising
53 Bahrain 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Brazil 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Canada 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 China 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Democratic Republic of Congo 18 years 2008 unchanged flat
53 Cape Verde 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Cuba 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Cyprus 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Algeria 18 years 2006 unchanged flat
53 Egypt 18 years 2019 unchanged rising
53 Eritrea 18 years 2019 down 5.3% flat
53 Spain 18 years 2020 unchanged rising
53 Fiji 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Gabon 18 years 2019 down 5.3% falling
53 United Kingdom 18 years 2010 unchanged flat
53 Georgia 18 years 2020 unchanged rising
53 Ghana 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Guinea-Bissau 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Greece 18 years 2020 unchanged flat
53 Hong Kong 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 India 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Ireland 18 years 2020 unchanged flat
53 Iraq 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Israel 18 years 2019 down 10.0% falling
53 Italy 18 years 2020 down 5.3% falling
53 Japan 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Kenya 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Kyrgyzstan 18 years 2020 unchanged rising
53 Cambodia 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Kuwait 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Laos 18 years 2019 up 5.9% rising
53 Liberia 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Libya 18 years 2017 unchanged flat
53 Sri Lanka 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Lesotho 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Luxembourg 18 years 2020 unchanged flat
53 Morocco 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Monaco 18 years 2020 unchanged flat
53 Moldova 18 years 2019 down 5.3% falling
53 Madagascar 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Maldives 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Marshall Islands 18 years 2019 down 5.3% flat
53 Malta 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Mongolia 18 years 2019 up 5.9% flat
53 Mozambique 18 years 2008 unchanged flat
53 Mauritius 18 years 2019 up 5.9% rising
53 Malawi 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Namibia 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Nigeria 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Nicaragua 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Nauru 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Oman 18 years 2012 unchanged flat
53 Panama 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Philippines 18 years 2019 up 12.5% rising
53 Palau 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Puerto Rico 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 North Korea 18 years 2019 up 5.9% rising
53 Portugal 18 years 2020 unchanged flat
53 Paraguay 18 years 2005 unchanged flat
53 Palestine 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Qatar 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Russia 18 years 2020 unchanged rising
53 Saudi Arabia 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Eswatini 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Sint Maarten (Dutch part) 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Syria 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Thailand 18 years 2013 unchanged flat
53 Tajikistan 18 years 2011 unchanged flat
53 Turkmenistan 18 years 2019 up 12.5% flat
53 Tonga 18 years 2019 up 5.9% rising
53 Uruguay 18 years 2004 unchanged flat
53 United States 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Vietnam 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Vanuatu 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
53 Samoa 18 years 2019 unchanged flat
133 Antigua and Barbuda 17 years 2019 unchanged flat
133 Belarus 17 years 2019 down 5.6% falling
133 Belize 17 years 2019 unchanged flat
133 Bhutan 17 years 2020 unchanged flat
133 Colombia 17 years 2019 unchanged flat
133 Cayman Islands 17 years 2019 unchanged flat
133 Djibouti 17 years 2019 down 5.6% falling
133 Dominica 17 years 2019 unchanged flat
133 France 17 years 2020 unchanged flat
133 Grenada 17 years 2019 unchanged rising
133 Iran 17 years 2012 unchanged flat
133 Jamaica 17 years 2019 unchanged flat
133 Kazakhstan 17 years 2020 down 5.6% flat
133 Kiribati 17 years 2008 unchanged flat
133 Saint Kitts and Nevis 17 years 2019 unchanged flat
133 Saint Lucia 17 years 2019 unchanged flat
133 Malaysia 17 years 2012 unchanged flat
133 New Zealand 17 years 2019 unchanged flat
133 Pakistan 17 years 2019 unchanged flat
133 Peru 17 years 2006 unchanged flat
133 Seychelles 17 years 2019 unchanged flat
133 Trinidad and Tobago 17 years 2019 unchanged flat
133 Ukraine 17 years 2012 up 6.2% rising
133 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 17 years 2019 unchanged flat
133 British Virgin Islands 17 years 2019 unchanged flat
133 Zimbabwe 17 years 2019 unchanged flat
159 Australia 16 years 2019 unchanged flat
159 Austria 16 years 2020 unchanged flat
159 Bahamas 16 years 2019 unchanged flat
159 Barbados 16 years 2019 unchanged flat
159 Curacao 16 years 2019 unchanged flat
159 Gibraltar 16 years 2019 unchanged flat
159 Guyana 16 years 2019 unchanged falling
159 Myanmar 16 years 2019 unchanged flat
159 Singapore 16 years 2019 unchanged flat
159 Turks and Caicos Islands 16 years 2019 unchanged falling
169 San Marino 14 years 2010 unchanged flat

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Official entrance age to post-secondary non-tertiary education by country. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 28 August 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/official-entrance-age-to-post-secondary-non-tertiary-education-years/

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About this data

Indicator
Official entrance age to post-secondary non-tertiary education (years)
Unit
years
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
169 places, 3,190 data points, 1970–2020
Last refreshed

Age at which students would enter post-secondary education, assuming they had started at the official entrance age for the lowest level of education, had studied full-time throughout and had progressed through the system without repeating or skipping a grade.