Compulsory education, duration in Least developed countries: UN classification
Least developed countries: UN classification: Compulsory education, duration was 8 years in 2025. ▲ Rising
Compulsory education, duration in Least developed countries: UN classification, 1998–2025
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in years.
Analysis
Least developed countries: UN classification recorded 8 years for compulsory education, duration in 2025. That is the highest value across all 28 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, compulsory education, duration in Least developed countries: UN classification peaked at 8 years in 2008 and was at its lowest, 6 years, in 1998.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 28 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 6 years | 6 years | 6 years | 2 |
| 2000s | 6.75 years | 6 years | 8 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 8 years | 8 years | 8 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 8 years | 8 years | 8 years | 6 |
More education data for Least developed countries: UN classification
- Population ages 0-14 38.4% (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 57.7% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 100.7% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 4.43 million (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 99.3% (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, male 102.0% (2024)
- Labor force, female 42.3% (2025)
- Labor force, total 450.68 million (2025)
- School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index 0.9545 GPI (2020)
- School enrollment, secondary 46.9% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is compulsory education, duration in Least developed countries: UN classification?
- Compulsory education, duration in Least developed countries: UN classification was 8 years in 2025, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
- What is the highest compulsory education, duration recorded in Least developed countries: UN classification?
- The highest recorded value was 8 years in 2008.
- What is the lowest compulsory education, duration recorded in Least developed countries: UN classification?
- The lowest recorded value was 6 years in 1998.
- Is compulsory education, duration rising or falling in Least developed countries: UN classification?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Least developed countries: UN classification 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 — 28 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.