Compulsory education, duration in North Korea
North Korea: Compulsory education, duration was 12 years in 2025. ▲ Rising
Compulsory education, duration in North Korea, 1975–2025
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in years.
Analysis
North Korea recorded 12 years for compulsory education, duration in 2025. That is the highest value across all 51 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, compulsory education, duration in North Korea peaked at 12 years in 2014 and was at its lowest, 11 years, in 1975.
North Korea ranks 33rd of 197 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 51 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 11 years | 11 years | 11 years | 5 |
| 1980s | 11 years | 11 years | 11 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 11 years | 11 years | 11 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 11 years | 11 years | 11 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 11.6 years | 11 years | 12 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 12 years | 12 years | 12 years | 6 |
Countries ranked near North Korea
- 33 Armenia 12 years compare
- 33 Bahamas 12 years compare
- 33 British Virgin Islands 12 years compare
- 33 Bulgaria 12 years compare
- 33 Cayman Islands 12 years compare
- 33 Chile 12 years compare
- 33 Colombia 12 years compare
- 33 Dominica 12 years compare
- 33 Egypt 12 years compare
- 33 Finland 12 years compare
- 33 Grenada 12 years compare
- 33 Honduras 12 years compare
- 33 Italy 12 years compare
- 33 Kenya 12 years compare
- 33 Luxembourg 12 years compare
- 33 Maldives 12 years compare
- 33 Mauritius 12 years compare
- 33 Mongolia 12 years compare
- 33 Pakistan 12 years compare
- 33 Palau 12 years compare
- 33 Portugal 12 years compare
- 33 Qatar 12 years compare
- 33 Saint Kitts and Nevis 12 years compare
- 33 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 12 years compare
- 33 Turkey 12 years compare
- 33 Turkmenistan 12 years compare
- 33 United Arab Emirates 12 years compare
- 33 United States 12 years compare
More education data for North Korea
- Primary school starting age 7 years (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 18.9% (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 68.4% (2025)
- Labor force, female 48.2% (2025)
- Labor force, total 17.70 million (2025)
- Probability of dying among adolescents ages 10-14 years 1.8 per 1,000 (2024)
- Probability of dying among children ages 5-9 years 2 per 1,000 (2024)
- Probability of dying among youth ages 20-24 years 5 per 1,000 (2024)
- Probability of dying among adolescents ages 15-19 years 3.9 per 1,000 (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is compulsory education, duration in North Korea?
- Compulsory education, duration in North Korea was 12 years in 2025, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
- What is the highest compulsory education, duration recorded in North Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 12 years in 2014.
- What is the lowest compulsory education, duration recorded in North Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 11 years in 1975.
- How does North Korea rank for compulsory education, duration?
- North Korea ranks 33rd out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is compulsory education, duration rising or falling in North Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this North Korea data come from?
- The figures come from Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as part of Compulsory education, duration (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 51 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Duration of compulsory education is the number of years that children are legally obliged to attend school.