Compulsory education, duration in South Asia
South Asia: Compulsory education, duration was 8.5 years in 2025. ▲ Rising
Compulsory education, duration in South Asia, 1998–2025
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in years.
Analysis
South Asia recorded 8.5 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 South Asia peaked at 8.5 years in 2015 and was at its lowest, 7 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 | 7 years | 7 years | 7 years | 2 |
| 2000s | 7.1 years | 7 years | 8 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.25 years | 8 years | 8.5 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.5 years | 8.5 years | 8.5 years | 6 |
More education data for South Asia
- Population ages 0-14 24.6% (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 68.1% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 119.0% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 5.84 million (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 119.2% (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, male 118.8% (2024)
- Labor force, total 709.68 million (2025)
- Labor force, female 29.1% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index 0.991 GPI (2020)
- School enrollment, secondary 76.9% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is compulsory education, duration in South Asia?
- Compulsory education, duration in South Asia was 8.5 years in 2025, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
- What is the highest compulsory education, duration recorded in South Asia?
- The highest recorded value was 8.5 years in 2015.
- What is the lowest compulsory education, duration recorded in South Asia?
- The lowest recorded value was 7 years in 1998.
- Is compulsory education, duration rising or falling in South Asia?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Asia 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.