education2025
Compulsory education, duration (years)
Compare compulsory education, duration (years) across 197 countries using the latest fixed-year World Bank WDI observations for 2025.
Loading visualization...
Key Insights
Global Average
10.0years
Median: 10.0years
Countries Covered
197
with available data
Highest
Venezuela
17.0years
Lowest
New Caledonia
0.0years
Top 5 Countries
1Venezuela17.0years
2Guatemala16.0years
3Dominican Republic15.0years
4Ecuador15.0years
5El Salvador15.0years
By Region
South America13.6years(7 countries)
North America13.0years(4 countries)
Europe10.8years(32 countries)
Oceania10.5years(2 countries)
Africa10.0years(9 countries)
Key Findings
- •197 ISO-mapped countries or territories have a finite fixed-year observation.
- •Venezuela has the highest published value (17 years).
- •Guam has the lowest published value (0 years).
Country Rankings
Top 10 Countries
Bottom 10 Countries
Data Analysis
Value Distribution
How countries are distributed across the value range
Low (0.0years)High (17.0years)
Regional Comparison
Average values by world region (Global avg: 10.0years)
South America (7)
North America (4)
Europe (32)
Oceania (2)
Africa (9)
Other (117)
Asia (26)
Percentile Profile
The curve shows how values change from the lowest to the highest country. Steep sections reveal inequality or outliers.
0th percentile · lowest100th percentile · highest
About This Statistic
Duration of compulsory education is the number of years that children are legally obliged to attend school.
Values use one fixed 2025 reference year from World Development Indicators series SE.COM.DURS. MapTheory excludes aggregates, missing/non-finite values, and geographies without an ISO 3166-1 numeric mapping; it does not interpolate missing countries.
Methodology
Duration of compulsory education is the number of years that children are legally obliged to attend school.
Full Data
| Rank ↑ | Country ↕ | Value ↕ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Venezuela | 17.0years |
| 2 | Guatemala | 16.0years |
| 3 | Dominican Republic | 15.0years |
| 4 | Ecuador | 15.0years |
| 5 | El Salvador | 15.0years |
| 6 | Israel | 15.0years |
| 7 | Tonga | 15.0years |
| 8 | Mexico | 14.0years |
| 9 | Nauru | 14.0years |
| 10 | Curaçao | 14.0years |
| 11 | Sint Maarten (Dutch part) | 14.0years |
| 12 | Peru | 14.0years |
| 13 | Uruguay | 14.0years |
| 14 | Argentina | 14.0years |
| 15 | Bolivia | 14.0years |
| 16 | Brazil | 14.0years |
| 17 | Costa Rica | 13.0years |
| 18 | France | 13.0years |
| 19 | Germany | 13.0years |
| 20 | Gibraltar | 13.0years |
| 21 | Hungary | 13.0years |
| 22 | Netherlands | 13.0years |
| 23 | Aruba | 13.0years |
| 24 | Marshall Islands | 13.0years |
| 25 | Paraguay | 13.0years |
| 26 | Philippines | 13.0years |
| 27 | Puerto Rico | 13.0years |
| 28 | Turks and Caicos Islands | 13.0years |
| 29 | The Republic of North Macedonia | 13.0years |
| 30 | Austria | 13.0years |
| 31 | Belgium | 13.0years |
| 32 | Bermuda | 13.0years |
| 33 | Bulgaria | 12.0years |
| 34 | Cayman Islands | 12.0years |
| 35 | Chile | 12.0years |
| 36 | Colombia | 12.0years |
| 37 | Dominica | 12.0years |
| 38 | Finland | 12.0years |
| 39 | Grenada | 12.0years |
| 40 | Honduras | 12.0years |
| 41 | Italy | 12.0years |
| 42 | Kenya | 12.0years |
| 43 | North Korea | 12.0years |
| 44 | Luxembourg | 12.0years |
| 45 | Maldives | 12.0years |
| 46 | Mauritius | 12.0years |
| 47 | Mongolia | 12.0years |
| 48 | Palau | 12.0years |
| 49 | Pakistan | 12.0years |
| 50 | Portugal | 12.0years |
| 51 | Qatar | 12.0years |
| 52 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 12.0years |
| 53 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 12.0years |
| 54 | United Arab Emirates | 12.0years |
| 55 | Türkiye | 12.0years |
| 56 | Turkmenistan | 12.0years |
| 57 | Egypt | 12.0years |
| 58 | United States of America | 12.0years |
| 59 | Bahamas | 12.0years |
| 60 | Armenia | 12.0years |
| 61 | Virgin Islands, British | 12.0years |
| 62 | Belarus | 11.0years |
| 63 | Sri Lanka | 11.0years |
| 64 | Ghana | 11.0years |
| 65 | Latvia | 11.0years |
| 66 | Lithuania | 11.0years |
| 67 | Malta | 11.0years |
| 68 | Monaco | 11.0years |
| 69 | Panama | 11.0years |
| 70 | Russian Federation | 11.0years |
| 71 | Senegal | 11.0years |
| 72 | Seychelles | 11.0years |
| 73 | Slovakia | 11.0years |
| 74 | Switzerland | 11.0years |
| 75 | Ukraine | 11.0years |
| 76 | United Kingdom | 11.0years |
| 77 | Uzbekistan | 11.0years |
| 78 | Antigua and Barbuda | 11.0years |
| 79 | Australia | 11.0years |
| 80 | Barbados | 11.0years |
| 81 | Canada | 10.0years |
| 82 | Cape Verde | 10.0years |
| 83 | Central African Republic | 10.0years |
| 84 | Chad | 10.0years |
| 85 | Republic of the Congo | 10.0years |
| 86 | Cyprus | 10.0years |
| 87 | Czech Republic | 10.0years |
| 88 | Denmark | 10.0years |
| 89 | Djibouti | 10.0years |
| 90 | Gabon | 10.0years |
| 91 | State of Palestine | 10.0years |
| 92 | Greece | 10.0years |
| 93 | Iceland | 10.0years |
| 94 | Ireland | 10.0years |
| 95 | Cote d'Ivoire | 10.0years |
| 96 | Jordan | 10.0years |
| 97 | Kyrgyzstan | 10.0years |
| 98 | Lebanon | 10.0years |
| 99 | Macao | 10.0years |
| 100 | Moldova, Republic of | 10.0years |
| 101 | Oman | 10.0years |
| 102 | New Zealand | 10.0years |
| 103 | Norway | 10.0years |
| 104 | Romania | 10.0years |
| 105 | Saint Lucia | 10.0years |
| 106 | San Marino | 10.0years |
| 107 | Vietnam | 10.0years |
| 108 | Spain | 10.0years |
| 109 | Sweden | 10.0years |
| 110 | Togo | 10.0years |
| 111 | Burkina Faso | 10.0years |
| 112 | Algeria | 10.0years |
| 113 | Andorra | 10.0years |
| 114 | Angola | 10.0years |
| 115 | People's Republic of China | 9.0years |
| 116 | Cuba | 9.0years |
| 117 | Estonia | 9.0years |
| 118 | Georgia | 9.0years |
| 119 | Republic of The Gambia | 9.0years |
| 120 | Kiribati | 9.0years |
| 121 | Hong Kong | 9.0years |
| 122 | Indonesia | 9.0years |
| 123 | Islamic Republic of Iran | 9.0years |
| 124 | Japan | 9.0years |
| 125 | Kazakhstan | 9.0years |
| 126 | South Korea | 9.0years |
| 127 | Kuwait | 9.0years |
| 128 | Lao People's Democratic Republic | 9.0years |
| 129 | Libya | 9.0years |
| 130 | Liechtenstein | 9.0years |
| 131 | Mali | 9.0years |
| 132 | Mauritania | 9.0years |
| 133 | Montenegro | 9.0years |
| 134 | Morocco | 9.0years |
| 135 | Nepal | 9.0years |
| 136 | Nigeria | 9.0years |
| 137 | Poland | 9.0years |
| 138 | Guinea-Bissau | 9.0years |
| 139 | Timor-Leste | 9.0years |
| 140 | Saudi Arabia | 9.0years |
| 141 | Sierra Leone | 9.0years |
| 142 | Slovenia | 9.0years |
| 143 | South Africa | 9.0years |
| 144 | Syrian Arab Republic | 9.0years |
| 145 | Tajikistan | 9.0years |
| 146 | Thailand | 9.0years |
| 147 | Tunisia | 9.0years |
| 148 | Tuvalu | 9.0years |
| 149 | Yemen | 9.0years |
| 150 | Afghanistan | 9.0years |
| 151 | Albania | 9.0years |
| 152 | Azerbaijan | 9.0years |
| 153 | Bahrain | 9.0years |
| 154 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 9.0years |
| 155 | Brunei Darussalam | 9.0years |
| 156 | Croatia | 8.0years |
| 157 | Ethiopia | 8.0years |
| 158 | Eritrea | 8.0years |
| 159 | India | 8.0years |
| 160 | Malawi | 8.0years |
| 161 | Micronesia, Federated States of | 8.0years |
| 162 | Serbia | 8.0years |
| 163 | Somalia | 8.0years |
| 164 | South Sudan | 8.0years |
| 165 | Sudan | 8.0years |
| 166 | Samoa | 8.0years |
| 167 | Belize | 8.0years |
| 168 | Lesotho | 7.0years |
| 169 | Namibia | 7.0years |
| 170 | Nicaragua | 7.0years |
| 171 | Zimbabwe | 7.0years |
| 172 | Eswatini | 7.0years |
| 173 | Trinidad and Tobago | 7.0years |
| 174 | Uganda | 7.0years |
| 175 | United Republic of Tanzania | 7.0years |
| 176 | Zambia | 7.0years |
| 177 | Cameroon | 6.0years |
| 178 | Comoros | 6.0years |
| 179 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 6.0years |
| 180 | Benin | 6.0years |
| 181 | Equatorial Guinea | 6.0years |
| 182 | Guinea | 6.0years |
| 183 | Guyana | 6.0years |
| 184 | Haiti | 6.0years |
| 185 | Iraq | 6.0years |
| 186 | Jamaica | 6.0years |
| 187 | Liberia | 6.0years |
| 188 | Malaysia | 6.0years |
| 189 | Rwanda | 6.0years |
| 190 | Sao Tome and Principe | 6.0years |
| 191 | Singapore | 6.0years |
| 192 | Suriname | 6.0years |
| 193 | Myanmar | 5.0years |
| 194 | Madagascar | 5.0years |
| 195 | Bangladesh | 5.0years |
| 196 | Guam | 0.0years |
| 197 | New Caledonia | 0.0years |
Showing 197 of 197 countries
Topics
Data Source
This data comes from World Bank World Development Indicators (2025).
View Original Source