World data · 194 countries · updated October 2026

Compulsory years of education by country

How many years of schooling are legally compulsory in each of 194 countries — a five-to-fifteen-year spread that shapes a whole childhood.

The short answer

Israel leads the 194 countries ranked here on compulsory years of schooling at 15 years, followed by Tonga at 15 years and Mexico at 15 years. The median country is Kyrgyzstan at 10 years, against a world average of 10 years.

#1 15 years Israel Middle East & North Africa #2 15 years Tonga Oceania #3 15 years Mexico North America Median 10 years Kyrgyzstan The middle of 194

World 10 years World average Population-weighted

What this measures

The number of years of education that are legally compulsory, from UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

What it does not

Legally compulsory and actually completed are different numbers. Read this alongside secondary completion rates, which are often far lower.

The bottom of the table

Myanmar 5 years

Bangladesh 5 years

Madagascar 5 years

Suriname 6 years

Guyana 6 years

Bars are scaled across the full observed range (5 years to 15 years), not to 100%, so the real spread is visible.

How the values are spread

Where the 194 countries fall

The range from 5 years to 15 years is split into 10 equal bands, and each bar counts the countries in one band.

Number of countries in each band of compulsory years of schooling
Band	Countries	Including
5.0 to 6.0 years	3	Madagascar, Bangladesh, Myanmar
6.0 to 7.0 years	14	Guinea, Benin, Rwanda and 11 more
7.0 to 8.0 years	9	Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique and 6 more
8.0 to 9.0 years	15	Ethiopia, DR Congo, Sudan and 12 more
9.0 to 10.0 years	45	Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon and 42 more
10.0 to 11.0 years	33	Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Chad and 30 more
11.0 to 12.0 years	19	Ghana, Seychelles, Malta and 16 more
12.0 to 13.0 years	27	Kenya, Mauritius, Turkey and 24 more
13.0 to 14.0 years	18	Philippines, Marshall Islands, Germany and 15 more
14.0 to 15.0 years	11	Israel, Tonga, Mexico and 8 more

How this is built: each band is one tenth of the gap between the lowest and highest value; a country is counted in the band its value falls in, and the top band includes the highest value. Countries with no comparable figure are left out. Chart drawn with Apache ECharts.

The full ranking

All 194 countries

Click any column heading to re-sort. Type to filter, or pick a region. Every country name links to its full profile.

194 countries shown

Compulsory years of education by country, ranked. Column headings re-sort the table.
Rank	Country	Compulsory years of schooling	Region	Gen Alpha
#1	Israel	15 years	Middle East & North Africa	3m
#2	Tonga	15 years	Oceania	36k
#3	Mexico	15 years	North America	31m
#4	Dominican Republic	15 years	Latin America	3m
#5	El Salvador	15 years	Latin America	2m
#6	Nauru	14 years	Oceania	5k
#7	Brazil	14 years	Latin America	44m
#8	Argentina	14 years	Latin America	11m
#9	Uruguay	14 years	Latin America	605k
#10	Curaçao	14 years	Latin America	27k
#11	Sint Maarten	14 years	Latin America	7k
#12	Philippines	13 years	East Asia & Pacific	32m
#13	Marshall Islands	13 years	Oceania	12k
#14	Germany	13 years	Europe & Central Asia	12m
#15	Netherlands	13 years	Europe & Central Asia	3m
#16	Belgium	13 years	Europe & Central Asia	2m
#17	Hungary	13 years	Europe & Central Asia	1m
#18	Austria	13 years	Europe & Central Asia	1m
#19	North Macedonia	13 years	Europe & Central Asia	298k
#20	Gibraltar	13 years	Europe & Central Asia	7k
#21	Bermuda	13 years	North America	9k
#22	Chile	13 years	Latin America	4m
#23	Ecuador	13 years	Latin America	4m
#24	Bolivia	13 years	Latin America	3m
#25	Paraguay	13 years	Latin America	2m
#26	Costa Rica	13 years	Latin America	947k
#27	Puerto Rico	13 years	Latin America	362k
#28	Aruba	13 years	Latin America	18k
#29	Turks and Caicos Islands	13 years	Latin America	8k
#30	Kenya	12 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	19m
#31	Mauritius	12 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	184k
#32	Turkey	12 years	Middle East & North Africa	19m
#33	United Arab Emirates	12 years	Middle East & North Africa	2m
#34	Qatar	12 years	Middle East & North Africa	476k
#35	Maldives	12 years	South Asia	101k
#36	North Korea	12 years	East Asia & Pacific	5m
#37	Mongolia	12 years	East Asia & Pacific	1m
#38	Palau	12 years	Oceania	3k
#39	United Kingdom	12 years	Europe & Central Asia	12m
#40	France	12 years	Europe & Central Asia	12m
#41	Portugal	12 years	Europe & Central Asia	1m
#42	Turkmenistan	12 years	Europe & Central Asia	2m
#43	Bulgaria	12 years	Europe & Central Asia	960k
#44	Finland	12 years	Europe & Central Asia	806k
#45	Armenia	12 years	Europe & Central Asia	557k
#46	Luxembourg	12 years	Europe & Central Asia	108k
#47	United States	12 years	North America	62m
#48	Peru	12 years	Latin America	8m
#49	Honduras	12 years	Latin America	3m
#50	Bahamas	12 years	Latin America	71k
#51	Grenada	12 years	Latin America	22k
#52	St Vincent and the Grenadines	12 years	Latin America	21k
#53	Cayman Islands	12 years	Latin America	12k
#54	Dominica	12 years	Latin America	12k
#55	St Kitts and Nevis	12 years	Latin America	9k
#56	British Virgin Islands	12 years	Latin America	6k
#57	Ghana	11 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	12m
#58	Seychelles	11 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	27k
#59	Malta	11 years	Middle East & North Africa	71k
#60	Australia	11 years	Oceania	5m
#61	New Zealand	11 years	Oceania	1m
#62	Russia	11 years	Europe & Central Asia	26m
#63	Ukraine	11 years	Europe & Central Asia	6m
#64	Uzbekistan	11 years	Europe & Central Asia	12m
#65	Switzerland	11 years	Europe & Central Asia	1m
#66	Belarus	11 years	Europe & Central Asia	1m
#67	Slovakia	11 years	Europe & Central Asia	849k
#68	Lithuania	11 years	Europe & Central Asia	406k
#69	Latvia	11 years	Europe & Central Asia	279k
#70	Monaco	11 years	Europe & Central Asia	5k
#71	Canada	11 years	North America	6m
#72	Venezuela	11 years	Latin America	7m
#73	Panama	11 years	Latin America	1m
#74	Barbados	11 years	Latin America	48k
#75	Antigua and Barbuda	11 years	Latin America	17k
#76	Côte d'Ivoire	10 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	12m
#77	Burkina Faso	10 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	10m
#78	Chad	10 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	10m
#79	Senegal	10 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	7m
#80	Togo	10 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	4m
#81	Republic of the Congo	10 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	3m
#82	Central African Republic	10 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	3m
#83	Gabon	10 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	959k
#84	Cape Verde	10 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	131k
#85	Algeria	10 years	Middle East & North Africa	14m
#86	Jordan	10 years	Middle East & North Africa	4m
#87	Lebanon	10 years	Middle East & North Africa	2m
#88	Oman	10 years	Middle East & North Africa	1m
#89	Palestine	10 years	Middle East & North Africa	2m
#90	Djibouti	10 years	Middle East & North Africa	345k
#91	Pakistan	10 years	South Asia	80m
#92	Italy	10 years	Europe & Central Asia	7m
#93	Spain	10 years	Europe & Central Asia	6m
#94	Romania	10 years	Europe & Central Asia	3m
#95	Sweden	10 years	Europe & Central Asia	2m
#96	Czechia	10 years	Europe & Central Asia	2m
#97	Greece	10 years	Europe & Central Asia	1m
#98	Kyrgyzstan	10 years	Europe & Central Asia	2m
#99	Denmark	10 years	Europe & Central Asia	937k
#100	Norway	10 years	Europe & Central Asia	900k
#101	Ireland	10 years	Europe & Central Asia	1m
#102	Moldova	10 years	Europe & Central Asia	578k
#103	Cyprus	10 years	Europe & Central Asia	222k
#104	Iceland	10 years	Europe & Central Asia	70k
#105	Andorra	10 years	Europe & Central Asia	10k
#106	San Marino	10 years	Europe & Central Asia	4k
#107	Colombia	10 years	Latin America	11m
#108	St Lucia	10 years	Latin America	31k
#109	Nigeria	9 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	95m
#110	South Africa	9 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	17m
#111	Cameroon	9 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	12m
#112	Mali	9 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	12m
#113	Zimbabwe	9 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	7m
#114	Sierra Leone	9 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	3m
#115	Mauritania	9 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	2m
#116	Gambia	9 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	1m
#117	Guinea-Bissau	9 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	881k
#118	Egypt	9 years	Middle East & North Africa	34m
#119	Iran	9 years	Middle East & North Africa	18m
#120	Afghanistan	9 years	Middle East & North Africa	17m
#121	Yemen	9 years	Middle East & North Africa	18m
#122	Morocco	9 years	Middle East & North Africa	10m
#123	Saudi Arabia	9 years	Middle East & North Africa	9m
#124	Syria	9 years	Middle East & North Africa	8m
#125	Tunisia	9 years	Middle East & North Africa	3m
#126	Libya	9 years	Middle East & North Africa	2m
#127	Kuwait	9 years	Middle East & North Africa	917k
#128	Bahrain	9 years	Middle East & North Africa	309k
#129	Sri Lanka	9 years	South Asia	4m
#130	China	9 years	East Asia & Pacific	230m
#131	Indonesia	9 years	East Asia & Pacific	68m
#132	Japan	9 years	East Asia & Pacific	14m
#133	Vietnam	9 years	East Asia & Pacific	23m
#134	Thailand	9 years	East Asia & Pacific	11m
#135	South Korea	9 years	East Asia & Pacific	6m
#136	Laos	9 years	East Asia & Pacific	2m
#137	Timor-Leste	9 years	East Asia & Pacific	476k
#138	Brunei	9 years	East Asia & Pacific	97k
#139	Kiribati	9 years	Oceania	48k
#140	Tuvalu	9 years	Oceania	3k
#141	Poland	9 years	Europe & Central Asia	6m
#142	Kazakhstan	9 years	Europe & Central Asia	6m
#143	Tajikistan	9 years	Europe & Central Asia	4m
#144	Azerbaijan	9 years	Europe & Central Asia	2m
#145	Georgia	9 years	Europe & Central Asia	780k
#146	Bosnia and Herzegovina	9 years	Europe & Central Asia	400k
#147	Albania	9 years	Europe & Central Asia	457k
#148	Slovenia	9 years	Europe & Central Asia	306k
#149	Estonia	9 years	Europe & Central Asia	203k
#150	Montenegro	9 years	Europe & Central Asia	112k
#151	Liechtenstein	9 years	Europe & Central Asia	6k
#152	Guatemala	9 years	Latin America	6m
#153	Cuba	9 years	Latin America	2m
#154	Ethiopia	8 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	48m
#155	DR Congo	8 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	44m
#156	Sudan	8 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	19m
#157	Angola	8 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	15m
#158	Malawi	8 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	9m
#159	Somalia	8 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	10m
#160	South Sudan	8 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	5m
#161	Eritrea	8 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	1m
#162	India	8 years	South Asia	327m
#163	Nepal	8 years	South Asia	8m
#164	Samoa	8 years	Oceania	84k
#165	Micronesia	8 years	Oceania	36k
#166	Serbia	8 years	Europe & Central Asia	947k
#167	Croatia	8 years	Europe & Central Asia	524k
#168	Belize	8 years	Latin America	113k
#169	Tanzania	7 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	28m
#170	Uganda	7 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	20m
#171	Mozambique	7 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	14m
#172	Zambia	7 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	9m
#173	Namibia	7 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	1m
#174	Lesotho	7 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	815k
#175	Eswatini	7 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	419k
#176	Nicaragua	7 years	Latin America	2m
#177	Trinidad and Tobago	7 years	Latin America	265k
#178	Guinea	6 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	6m
#179	Benin	6 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	6m
#180	Rwanda	6 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	6m
#181	Liberia	6 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	2m
#182	Equatorial Guinea	6 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	736k
#183	Comoros	6 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	331k
#184	São Tomé and Príncipe	6 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	92k
#185	Iraq	6 years	Middle East & North Africa	16m
#186	Malaysia	6 years	East Asia & Pacific	8m
#187	Singapore	6 years	East Asia & Pacific	690k
#188	Haiti	6 years	Latin America	4m
#189	Jamaica	6 years	Latin America	518k
#190	Guyana	6 years	Latin America	243k
#191	Suriname	6 years	Latin America	163k
#192	Madagascar	5 years	Sub-Saharan Africa	13m
#193	Bangladesh	5 years	South Asia	44m
#194	Myanmar	5 years	East Asia & Pacific	13m

Reading the table

A child in Mexico is legally required to be in school for fifteen years. A child in Bangladesh or Myanmar is required to be there for five. That is a three-fold difference in the mandated length of childhood education, between countries at broadly similar income levels in some cases.

The number to distrust here is the high end. Mexico mandates fifteen years and records a secondary completion rate of about 65%. A legal requirement without the school places, teachers and household income to support it is an aspiration, not a policy.

The number to respect is the middle. Nine to twelve years, actually delivered, describes almost every country with strong education outcomes.

Iraq is the outlier worth flagging: six compulsory years against an under-15 share of 37%, the widest gap of that kind on the list — a very young country with one of the shortest legal schooling requirements.

Run the numbers yourself

Tools that use this data

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Frequently asked

How many years of school are compulsory?

Between five and fifteen depending on the country. Mexico mandates the most at fifteen years; Bangladesh and Myanmar the fewest at five.

Which country has the longest compulsory education?

Mexico, at fifteen years, followed by Brazil and Argentina at fourteen.

Does more compulsory schooling mean better outcomes?

Not reliably. Mexico mandates fifteen years but records about 65% secondary completion, while several countries with nine to twelve compulsory years exceed 90%. Delivery matters more than the legal requirement.

How many countries are in this table?

This table ranks 194 countries with a comparable figure, out of the 194 countries profiled on AlphaBetaMinds. The countries in this table hold about 98% of the world population.

Can I reuse this data?

Yes, free of charge and commercially, with a credit to AlphaBetaMinds and a link to this page. The full dataset is also available as plain text at https://alphabetaminds.com/llms-countries.txt.

Other data tables

Generation Alpha population Generation Alpha share of population Projected Generation Beta births Under-15 population share Total fertility rate Median age Births per day School starting age Secondary school completion Daily screen time, ages 8–12 Internet use Cost of raising a child to 18 Life expectancy at birth Urban population share Under-15 population change to 2040 Youth dependency ratio

Cite this table

AlphaBetaMinds (2026). Compulsory years of education by country. Retrieved from https://alphabetaminds.com/data/compulsory-education-years-by-country

Download the full dataset (CSV)

Sources: UN World Population Prospects, World Bank Open Data, UNESCO Institute for Statistics, ITU. Figures are 2025–2026 estimates. Method on our methodology page.