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Compulsory education years (2024)

89/237 countries

Number of years of compulsory education

By country89ranked
1998
2024
2024

Rankings at a glance

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Highest 10 · Number of years of compulsory education (2024)

Among the 89 countries with 2024 data, Armenia has the highest number of years of compulsory education at 12 years in 2024, followed by Bolivia (12 years) and the Cook Islands (12 years). The top 5 is rounded off by Curaçao (12 years) and Dominica (12 years). Further down, Ecuador (12 years) and Gibraltar (12 years) hold the next two spots. Grenada (12 years), Italy (12 years), and the Marshall Islands (12 years) round out the top ten. Three of the top ten are in the Caribbean.

Rank changes

How number of years of compulsory education changed between 2019 and 2024

2019and2024

Key terms

Literacy rate
Percentage of population who can read and write a short, simple statement about everyday life.
Gross enrollment ratio
Total enrollment in a level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the eligible school-age population.
Completion rate
Percentage of a cohort of children who complete a given level of education.
Out-of-school rate
Percentage of children of official school age who are not enrolled in school.
Pupil-teacher ratio
Enrolled pupils per TRAINED teacher at a given level of education. It measures how thinly trained teachers are spread, not average class size: the ratio rises when fewer teachers meet the training requirement, whatever happens to the number of pupils in a room.
Educational attainment
Highest level of education completed by the population aged 25 and over.

Frequently asked questions

Which country has the highest number of years of compulsory education?
Armenia has the highest number of years of compulsory education among the 89 countries with 2024 data at 12 years as of 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Which country has the lowest number of years of compulsory education?
Vanuatu has the lowest number of years of compulsory education among the 89 countries with 2024 data at 0 years as of 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

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