Education · Complete Rankings
Countries Ranked by Compulsory education, duration (years)
Showing every country with available data for 2025 • World Bank: SE.COM.DURS
The indicator page shows only the leaders and the laggards — useful for headlines, but it leaves out the middle of the distribution, which is where most countries actually sit. This page lists every country with reported compulsory education, duration (years) data for 2025, ranked from highest to lowest, so you can find any country's exact position rather than guessing whether it falls inside the top or bottom ten.
Of the 197 countries reporting, the median value is 10.00, meaning half the world sits above this line and half below. Use the search box below to jump straight to a country, or scroll the full table. Each country name links through to its detailed country × indicator page with the 20-year trend.
Top Country in Each Region
| Rank | Country | Compulsory education, duration (years) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Venezuela, RB | 17.00 |
| 2 | Guatemala | 16.00 |
| 3 | El Salvador | 15.00 |
| 4 | Tonga | 15.00 |
| 5 | Ecuador | 15.00 |
| 6 | Dominican Republic | 15.00 |
| 7 | Israel | 15.00 |
| 8 | Curacao | 14.00 |
| 9 | Peru | 14.00 |
| 10 | Argentina | 14.00 |
| 11 | Brazil | 14.00 |
| 12 | Mexico | 14.00 |
| 13 | Nauru | 14.00 |
| 14 | Bolivia | 14.00 |
| 15 | Sint Maarten (Dutch part) | 14.00 |
| 16 | Uruguay | 14.00 |
| 17 | Marshall Islands | 13.00 |
| 18 | Bermuda | 13.00 |
| 19 | Costa Rica | 13.00 |
| 20 | Belgium | 13.00 |
| 21 | Netherlands | 13.00 |
| 22 | Hungary | 13.00 |
| 23 | North Macedonia | 13.00 |
| 24 | Gibraltar | 13.00 |
| 25 | Germany | 13.00 |
| 26 | Austria | 13.00 |
| 27 | Paraguay | 13.00 |
| 28 | Philippines | 13.00 |
| 29 | France | 13.00 |
| 30 | Puerto Rico (US) | 13.00 |
| 31 | Turks and Caicos Islands | 13.00 |
| 32 | Aruba | 13.00 |
| 33 | British Virgin Islands | 12.00 |
| 34 | Mongolia | 12.00 |
| 35 | Bulgaria | 12.00 |
| 36 | Pakistan | 12.00 |
| 37 | Palau | 12.00 |
| 38 | Portugal | 12.00 |
| 39 | Qatar | 12.00 |
| 40 | Cayman Islands | 12.00 |
| 41 | Chile | 12.00 |
| 42 | Colombia | 12.00 |
| 43 | United States | 12.00 |
| 44 | Armenia | 12.00 |
| 45 | Dominica | 12.00 |
| 46 | Egypt, Arab Rep. | 12.00 |
| 47 | United Arab Emirates | 12.00 |
| 48 | Turkmenistan | 12.00 |
| 49 | Finland | 12.00 |
| 50 | Grenada | 12.00 |
| 51 | Turkiye | 12.00 |
| 52 | Honduras | 12.00 |
| 53 | Bahamas, The | 12.00 |
| 54 | St. Vincent and the Grenadines | 12.00 |
| 55 | Italy | 12.00 |
| 56 | Kenya | 12.00 |
| 57 | Korea, Dem. People's Rep. | 12.00 |
| 58 | St. Kitts and Nevis | 12.00 |
| 59 | Luxembourg | 12.00 |
| 60 | Maldives | 12.00 |
| 61 | Mauritius | 12.00 |
| 62 | Australia | 11.00 |
| 63 | Senegal | 11.00 |
| 64 | United Kingdom | 11.00 |
| 65 | Russian Federation | 11.00 |
| 66 | Slovak Republic | 11.00 |
| 67 | Ghana | 11.00 |
| 68 | Barbados | 11.00 |
| 69 | Latvia | 11.00 |
| 70 | Lithuania | 11.00 |
| 71 | Belarus | 11.00 |
| 72 | Monaco | 11.00 |
| 73 | Switzerland | 11.00 |
| 74 | Seychelles | 11.00 |
| 75 | Ukraine | 11.00 |
| 76 | Malta | 11.00 |
| 77 | Panama | 11.00 |
| 78 | Sri Lanka | 11.00 |
| 79 | Antigua and Barbuda | 11.00 |
| 80 | Uzbekistan | 11.00 |
| 81 | Burkina Faso | 10.00 |
| 82 | Viet Nam | 10.00 |
| 83 | San Marino | 10.00 |
| 84 | Kyrgyz Republic | 10.00 |
| 85 | Cyprus | 10.00 |
| 86 | Czechia | 10.00 |
| 87 | Denmark | 10.00 |
| 88 | Djibouti | 10.00 |
| 89 | Cote d'Ivoire | 10.00 |
| 90 | Congo, Rep. | 10.00 |
| 91 | Lebanon | 10.00 |
| 92 | Chad | 10.00 |
| 93 | Gabon | 10.00 |
| 94 | Central African Republic | 10.00 |
| 95 | Canada | 10.00 |
| 96 | Moldova | 10.00 |
| 97 | Oman | 10.00 |
| 98 | Norway | 10.00 |
| 99 | Greece | 10.00 |
| 100 | Angola | 10.00 |
| 101 | Cabo Verde | 10.00 |
| 102 | Romania | 10.00 |
| 103 | Algeria | 10.00 |
| 104 | Togo | 10.00 |
| 105 | Macao SAR, China | 10.00 |
| 106 | New Zealand | 10.00 |
| 107 | Iceland | 10.00 |
| 108 | Sweden | 10.00 |
| 109 | Andorra | 10.00 |
| 110 | West Bank and Gaza | 10.00 |
| 111 | Spain | 10.00 |
| 112 | Ireland | 10.00 |
| 113 | St. Lucia | 10.00 |
| 114 | Jordan | 10.00 |
| 115 | Tajikistan | 9.00 |
| 116 | Albania | 9.00 |
| 117 | Azerbaijan | 9.00 |
| 118 | Bahrain | 9.00 |
| 119 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 9.00 |
| 120 | Brunei Darussalam | 9.00 |
| 121 | China | 9.00 |
| 122 | Cuba | 9.00 |
| 123 | Estonia | 9.00 |
| 124 | Gambia, The | 9.00 |
| 125 | Georgia | 9.00 |
| 126 | Guinea-Bissau | 9.00 |
| 127 | Hong Kong SAR, China | 9.00 |
| 128 | Indonesia | 9.00 |
| 129 | Iran, Islamic Rep. | 9.00 |
| 130 | Japan | 9.00 |
| 131 | Kazakhstan | 9.00 |
| 132 | Kiribati | 9.00 |
| 133 | Korea, Rep. | 9.00 |
| 134 | Kuwait | 9.00 |
| 135 | Lao PDR | 9.00 |
| 136 | Libya | 9.00 |
| 137 | Liechtenstein | 9.00 |
| 138 | Mali | 9.00 |
| 139 | Mauritania | 9.00 |
| 140 | Montenegro | 9.00 |
| 141 | Morocco | 9.00 |
| 142 | Nepal | 9.00 |
| 143 | Nigeria | 9.00 |
| 144 | Poland | 9.00 |
| 145 | Saudi Arabia | 9.00 |
| 146 | Sierra Leone | 9.00 |
| 147 | Slovenia | 9.00 |
| 148 | South Africa | 9.00 |
| 149 | Syrian Arab Republic | 9.00 |
| 150 | Afghanistan | 9.00 |
| 151 | Thailand | 9.00 |
| 152 | Timor-Leste | 9.00 |
| 153 | Tunisia | 9.00 |
| 154 | Tuvalu | 9.00 |
| 155 | Yemen, Rep. | 9.00 |
| 156 | South Sudan | 8.00 |
| 157 | Sudan | 8.00 |
| 158 | Ethiopia | 8.00 |
| 159 | Eritrea | 8.00 |
| 160 | Croatia | 8.00 |
| 161 | Samoa | 8.00 |
| 162 | India | 8.00 |
| 163 | Somalia, Fed. Rep. | 8.00 |
| 164 | Malawi | 8.00 |
| 165 | Belize | 8.00 |
| 166 | Micronesia, Fed. Sts. | 8.00 |
| 167 | Serbia | 8.00 |
| 168 | Trinidad and Tobago | 7.00 |
| 169 | Zimbabwe | 7.00 |
| 170 | Namibia | 7.00 |
| 171 | Lesotho | 7.00 |
| 172 | Eswatini | 7.00 |
| 173 | Zambia | 7.00 |
| 174 | Uganda | 7.00 |
| 175 | Tanzania | 7.00 |
| 176 | Nicaragua | 7.00 |
| 177 | Guyana | 6.00 |
| 178 | Malaysia | 6.00 |
| 179 | Congo, Dem. Rep. | 6.00 |
| 180 | Comoros | 6.00 |
| 181 | Liberia | 6.00 |
| 182 | Jamaica | 6.00 |
| 183 | Iraq | 6.00 |
| 184 | Suriname | 6.00 |
| 185 | Haiti | 6.00 |
| 186 | Cameroon | 6.00 |
| 187 | Benin | 6.00 |
| 188 | Singapore | 6.00 |
| 189 | Guinea | 6.00 |
| 190 | Rwanda | 6.00 |
| 191 | Sao Tome and Principe | 6.00 |
| 192 | Equatorial Guinea | 6.00 |
| 193 | Madagascar | 5.00 |
| 194 | Myanmar | 5.00 |
| 195 | Bangladesh | 5.00 |
| 196 | Guam | 0.00 |
| 197 | New Caledonia | 0.00 |
Source: World Bank Open Data (SE.COM.DURS), CC BY 4.0. Rankings include only countries with reported values for 2025; countries with suppressed or unavailable data are omitted.