Compulsory education, duration (years) - Country Ranking
Definition: Duration of compulsory education is the number of years that children are legally obliged to attend school.
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (http://uis.unesco.org/)
See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison
| Rank | Country | Value | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Venezuela | 17.00 | 2018 |
| 2 | Guatemala | 16.00 | 2018 |
| 3 | Tonga | 15.00 | 2018 |
| 3 | El Salvador | 15.00 | 2018 |
| 3 | Israel | 15.00 | 2019 |
| 3 | Dominican Republic | 15.00 | 2018 |
| 3 | Ecuador | 15.00 | 2018 |
| 8 | Brazil | 14.00 | 2018 |
| 8 | Argentina | 14.00 | 2018 |
| 8 | Bolivia | 14.00 | 2018 |
| 8 | Peru | 14.00 | 2018 |
| 8 | Mexico | 14.00 | 2018 |
| 8 | Uruguay | 14.00 | 2018 |
| 8 | Nauru | 14.00 | 2018 |
| 15 | Philippines | 13.00 | 2018 |
| 15 | Netherlands | 13.00 | 2018 |
| 15 | Paraguay | 13.00 | 2018 |
| 15 | Puerto Rico | 13.00 | 2018 |
| 15 | North Macedonia | 13.00 | 2018 |
| 15 | Austria | 13.00 | 2018 |
| 15 | Hungary | 13.00 | 2018 |
| 15 | Germany | 13.00 | 2018 |
| 15 | Costa Rica | 13.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | Colombia | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | Egypt | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | Armenia | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | Belgium | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | Honduras | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | Dominica | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | Cayman Islands | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | The Bahamas | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | Chile | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | Luxembourg | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | St. Kitts and Nevis | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | Italy | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | Pakistan | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | Portugal | 12.00 | 2019 |
| 24 | Palau | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | St. Vincent and the Grenadines | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | United States | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | Mongolia | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | Kenya | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | Turkmenistan | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | Uzbekistan | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | Turkey | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 24 | Grenada | 12.00 | 2018 |
| 47 | Malta | 11.00 | 2018 |
| 47 | Sri Lanka | 11.00 | 2018 |
| 47 | Ukraine | 11.00 | 2018 |
| 47 | Russia | 11.00 | 2018 |
| 47 | Mauritius | 11.00 | 2018 |
| 47 | Latvia | 11.00 | 2018 |
| 47 | Moldova | 11.00 | 2018 |
| 47 | Monaco | 11.00 | 2019 |
| 47 | Dem. People's Rep. Korea | 11.00 | 2018 |
| 47 | Senegal | 11.00 | 2018 |
| 47 | Panama | 11.00 | 2018 |
| 47 | Barbados | 11.00 | 2018 |
| 47 | Antigua and Barbuda | 11.00 | 2018 |
| 47 | Ghana | 11.00 | 2018 |
| 47 | Switzerland | 11.00 | 2018 |
| 47 | Bulgaria | 11.00 | 2018 |
| 47 | United Kingdom | 11.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Gabon | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Finland | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Burkina Faso | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Cyprus | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Algeria | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Denmark | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Canada | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Azerbaijan | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Iceland | 10.00 | 2019 |
| 64 | Ireland | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | France | 10.00 | 2019 |
| 64 | Spain | 10.00 | 2019 |
| 64 | Djibouti | 10.00 | 2019 |
| 64 | Andorra | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Australia | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Côte d'Ivoire | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Central African Republic | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Cabo Verde | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Congo | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | New Zealand | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Romania | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | San Marino | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Poland | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Lithuania | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Jordan | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | St. Lucia | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Lebanon | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Oman | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Norway | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Slovak Republic | 10.00 | 2019 |
| 64 | Vietnam | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Togo | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Chad | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Seychelles | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Macao SAR, China | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Kyrgyz Republic | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Greece | 10.00 | 2019 |
| 64 | Greenland | 10.00 | 2018 |
| 64 | Sweden | 10.00 | 2019 |
| 103 | Thailand | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Guinea-Bissau | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | South Africa | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Yemen | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Hong Kong SAR, China | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Mali | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Libya | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Kuwait | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Korea | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Kiribati | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Slovenia | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Syrian Arab Republic | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Timor-Leste | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Tajikistan | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Tunisia | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Sierra Leone | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Qatar | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Lao PDR | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Kazakhstan | 9.00 | 2019 |
| 103 | Japan | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Liechtenstein | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Morocco | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Saudi Arabia | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Mauritania | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Montenegro | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Nigeria | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Bahrain | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | The Gambia | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Albania | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Czech Republic | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Cuba | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Indonesia | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Iran | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Georgia | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | China | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Afghanistan | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Brunei | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Belarus | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 103 | Estonia | 9.00 | 2018 |
| 143 | Eritrea | 8.00 | 2018 |
| 143 | Ethiopia | 8.00 | 2018 |
| 143 | Belize | 8.00 | 2018 |
| 143 | Sudan | 8.00 | 2018 |
| 143 | Malawi | 8.00 | 2018 |
| 143 | Tuvalu | 8.00 | 2018 |
| 143 | Croatia | 8.00 | 2018 |
| 143 | India | 8.00 | 2018 |
| 143 | Samoa | 8.00 | 2018 |
| 143 | Serbia | 8.00 | 2018 |
| 153 | Tanzania | 7.00 | 2018 |
| 153 | Zambia | 7.00 | 2018 |
| 153 | Eswatini | 7.00 | 2018 |
| 153 | Uganda | 7.00 | 2018 |
| 153 | Zimbabwe | 7.00 | 2018 |
| 153 | Nicaragua | 7.00 | 2018 |
| 153 | Lesotho | 7.00 | 2018 |
| 160 | Liberia | 6.00 | 2018 |
| 160 | Malaysia | 6.00 | 2018 |
| 160 | Angola | 6.00 | 2018 |
| 160 | Guinea | 6.00 | 2018 |
| 160 | Cameroon | 6.00 | 2018 |
| 160 | Singapore | 6.00 | 2018 |
| 160 | Rwanda | 6.00 | 2018 |
| 160 | São Tomé and Principe | 6.00 | 2018 |
| 160 | Trinidad and Tobago | 6.00 | 2018 |
| 160 | Equatorial Guinea | 6.00 | 2018 |
| 160 | Suriname | 6.00 | 2019 |
| 160 | Haiti | 6.00 | 2018 |
| 160 | Jamaica | 6.00 | 2018 |
| 160 | Iraq | 6.00 | 2018 |
| 160 | Guyana | 6.00 | 2018 |
| 160 | United Arab Emirates | 6.00 | 2018 |
| 160 | Benin | 6.00 | 2018 |
| 160 | Dem. Rep. Congo | 6.00 | 2018 |
| 160 | Comoros | 6.00 | 2018 |
| 179 | Bangladesh | 5.00 | 2018 |
| 179 | Myanmar | 5.00 | 2018 |
| 179 | Madagascar | 5.00 | 2018 |
| 182 | New Caledonia | 0.00 | 2018 |
More rankings: Africa | Asia | Central America & the Caribbean | Europe | Middle East | North America | Oceania | South America | World |
Other Notes: Data retrieved via API in March 2019. For detailed information on the observation level (e.g. National Estimation, UIS Estimation, or Category not applicable), please visit UIS.Stat (http://data.uis.unesco.org/).
Statistical Concept and Methodology: Data on education are collected by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics from official responses to its annual education survey. All the data are mapped to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) to ensure the comparability of education programs at the international level. The current version was formally adopted by UNESCO Member States in 2011. Aggregate data are based on World Bank estimates. The reference years reflect the school year for which the data are presented. In some countries the school year spans two calendar years (for example, from September 2010 to June 2011); in these cases the reference year refers to the year in which the school year ended (2011 in the example).
Aggregation method: Median
Periodicity: Annual
