Statizoid

Theoretical duration of post-secondary non-tertiary education (years) by country

Number of grades (years) in post-secondary education.

Countries reporting
168
Highest
5 years
San Marino
Lowest
1 years
Samoa
Median
2 years
Years covered
51
1970–2020
Data points
3,181

What the numbers show

Theoretical duration of post-secondary non-tertiary education (years) is currently reported for 168 countries. The highest value is 5 years in San Marino; the lowest is 1 years in Samoa.

The median across all reporting countries is 2 years, and the mean is 1.72 years.

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

Over the past decade 12 countries rose and 12 fell. The largest increase was in Naoero (up 200.0%), and the largest decrease in Suriname (down 50.0%).

Theoretical duration of post-secondary non-tertiary education: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 San Marino 5 years 2010 unchanged flat
2 Bhutan 4 years 2020 unchanged flat
2 Haiti 4 years 2019 unchanged flat
4 Curaçao 3 years 2019 unchanged flat
4 Germany 3 years 2020 unchanged flat
4 Algeria 3 years 2006 unchanged flat
4 Liberia 3 years 2019 up 50.0% flat
4 Libya 3 years 2017 unchanged rising
4 Luxembourg 3 years 2020 unchanged flat
4 Naoero 3 years 2019 up 200.0% rising
4 Romania 3 years 2020 unchanged flat
4 Sierra Leone 3 years 2019 up 50.0% rising
4 British Virgin Islands 3 years 2019 unchanged rising
14 Colombia 2.5 years 2019 unchanged rising
15 Afghanistan 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Antigua and Barbuda 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Benin 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Bangladesh 2 years 2019 up 100.0% rising
15 Bulgaria 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Bahrain 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Belize 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Barbados 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Canada 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Côte d'Ivoire 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Cameroon 2 years 2019 unchanged falling
15 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 2 years 2008 unchanged flat
15 Congo 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Comoros 2 years 2019 up 100.0% rising
15 Cuba 2 years 2019 up 100.0% rising
15 Cayman Islands 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Cyprus 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Djibouti 2 years 2019 unchanged falling
15 Dominica 2 years 2019 up 100.0% flat
15 Denmark 2 years 2012 unchanged flat
15 Egypt 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Spain 2 years 2020 unchanged flat
15 Estonia 2 years 2020 unchanged flat
15 Fiji 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 France 2 years 2020 unchanged flat
15 Micronesia, Federated States of 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Ghana 2 years 2019 down 33.3% falling
15 Gibraltar 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Guinea-Bissau 2 years 2019 down 33.3% falling
15 Greece 2 years 2020 unchanged flat
15 Grenada 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Guyana 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Hungary 2 years 2020 unchanged flat
15 India 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Ireland 2 years 2020 unchanged flat
15 Iran, Islamic Republic of 2 years 2012 unchanged flat
15 Iraq 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Jamaica 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Kenya 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Cambodia 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Saint Kitts and Nevis 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Kuwait 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Lao People's Democratic Republic 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Saint Lucia 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Liechtenstein 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Latvia 2 years 2020 unchanged flat
15 Morocco 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Madagascar 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Maldives 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Marshall Islands 2 years 2019 up 100.0% rising
15 Mali 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Malta 2 years 2019 up 100.0% rising
15 Myanmar 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Montenegro 2 years 2019 unchanged rising
15 Mongolia 2 years 2019 down 33.3% rising
15 Mauritania 2 years 2012 up 100.0% rising
15 Malawi 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Namibia 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Nigeria 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Nicaragua 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Oman 2 years 2012 unchanged flat
15 Panama 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Philippines 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Poland 2 years 2020 unchanged falling
15 Puerto Rico 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Korea, Democratic People's Republic of 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Paraguay 2 years 2005 unchanged flat
15 Rwanda 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Singapore 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Serbia 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Suriname 2 years 2019 down 50.0% falling
15 Slovakia 2 years 2020 unchanged rising
15 Sweden 2 years 2020 up 100.0% rising
15 Sint Maarten 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Seychelles 2 years 2019 down 33.3% falling
15 Syrian Arab Republic 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Togo 2 years 2019 unchanged rising
15 Tonga 2 years 2019 up 100.0% rising
15 Trinidad and Tobago 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Tunisia 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Tanzania, United Republic of 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Uganda 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Uruguay 2 years 2004 unchanged flat
15 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Vanuatu 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Yemen 2 years 2007 unchanged flat
15 South Africa 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Zambia 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
15 Zimbabwe 2 years 2019 unchanged flat
104 Saudi Arabia 1.5 years 2019 down 25.0% falling
105 Andorra 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Australia 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Austria 1 years 2020 unchanged flat
105 Azerbaijan 1 years 2020 unchanged flat
105 Belgium 1 years 2020 unchanged flat
105 Burkina Faso 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Bahamas 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Belarus 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Brazil 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Brunei Darussalam 1 years 2012 unchanged flat
105 Botswana 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Switzerland 1 years 2020 unchanged flat
105 China 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Cape Verde 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Czechia 1 years 2020 unchanged flat
105 Eritrea 1 years 2019 down 50.0% falling
105 Ethiopia 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Finland 1 years 2020 unchanged flat
105 Gabon 1 years 2019 down 50.0% falling
105 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1 years 2010 unchanged flat
105 Georgia 1 years 2020 unchanged flat
105 Gambia 1 years 2019 unchanged falling
105 Hong Kong, China 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Iceland 1 years 2020 unchanged falling
105 Israel 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Italy 1 years 2020 unchanged flat
105 Japan 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Kazakhstan 1 years 2020 unchanged flat
105 Kyrgyzstan 1 years 2020 unchanged volatile
105 Kiribati 1 years 2008 unchanged flat
105 Sri Lanka 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Lesotho 1 years 2019 unchanged falling
105 Lithuania 1 years 2020 unchanged flat
105 Monaco 1 years 2020 unchanged flat
105 Republic of Moldova 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 North Macedonia 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Mozambique 1 years 2008 unchanged flat
105 Mauritius 1 years 2019 down 50.0% falling
105 Malaysia 1 years 2012 unchanged flat
105 Niger 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Netherlands 1 years 2020 unchanged flat
105 Norway 1 years 2020 unchanged flat
105 New Zealand 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Pakistan 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Palau 1 years 2019 down 50.0% falling
105 Papua New Guinea 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Portugal 1 years 2020 unchanged flat
105 Palestine, State of 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Qatar 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Russian Federation 1 years 2020 unchanged flat
105 Senegal 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Solomon Islands 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Slovenia 1 years 2012 unchanged flat
105 Eswatini 1 years 2019 unchanged falling
105 Turks and Caicos Islands 1 years 2019 down 50.0% falling
105 Chad 1 years 2019 unchanged falling
105 Thailand 1 years 2013 unchanged flat
105 Tajikistan 1 years 2011 unchanged flat
105 Turkmenistan 1 years 2019 down 50.0% falling
105 Ukraine 1 years 2012 unchanged flat
105 United States of America 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Viet Nam 1 years 2019 unchanged flat
105 Samoa 1 years 2019 unchanged flat

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Theoretical duration of post-secondary non-tertiary education by country. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 24 August 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/theoretical-duration-of-post-secondary-non-tertiary-education-years/

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About this data

Indicator
Theoretical duration of post-secondary non-tertiary education (years)
Unit
years
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
168 places, 3,181 data points, 1970–2020
Last refreshed

Number of grades (years) in post-secondary education.