Compulsory education, duration in Zambia

Zambia: Compulsory education, duration was 7 years in 2025. ▬ Flat

Latest (2025)
7 years
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
168th
of 197 countries
All-time high
7 years
in 1998
All-time low
7 years
in 1998
Years of data
28
1998–2025

Compulsory education, duration in Zambia, 1998–2025

024681998201120251998: 7 years1999: 7 years2000: 7 years2001: 7 years2002: 7 years2003: 7 years2004: 7 years2005: 7 years2006: 7 years2007: 7 years2008: 7 years2009: 7 years2010: 7 years2011: 7 years2012: 7 years2013: 7 years2014: 7 years2015: 7 years2016: 7 years2017: 7 years2018: 7 years2019: 7 years2020: 7 years2021: 7 years2022: 7 years2023: 7 years2024: 7 years2025: 7 years

Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in years.

Analysis

The most recent figure for compulsory education, duration in Zambia is 7 years, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 28 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is unchanged over ten years.

Over the whole period, compulsory education, duration in Zambia peaked at 7 years in 1998 and was at its lowest, 7 years, in 1998.

Zambia ranks 168th of 197 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 7 years 7 years 7 years 2
2000s 7 years 7 years 7 years 10
2010s 7 years 7 years 7 years 10
2020s 7 years 7 years 7 years 6

Countries ranked near Zambia

  1. 168 Eswatini 7 years compare
  2. 168 Lesotho 7 years compare
  3. 168 Namibia 7 years compare
  4. 168 Nicaragua 7 years compare
  5. 168 Tanzania 7 years compare
  6. 168 Trinidad and Tobago 7 years compare
  7. 168 Uganda 7 years compare
  8. 168 Zimbabwe 7 years compare

See the full ranking of 243 places →

More education data for Zambia

All data for Zambia →

Frequently asked questions

What is compulsory education, duration in Zambia?
Compulsory education, duration in Zambia was 7 years in 2025, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
What is the highest compulsory education, duration recorded in Zambia?
The highest recorded value was 7 years in 1998.
What is the lowest compulsory education, duration recorded in Zambia?
The lowest recorded value was 7 years in 1998.
How does Zambia rank for compulsory education, duration?
Zambia ranks 168th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
Is compulsory education, duration rising or falling in Zambia?
Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
Where does this Zambia 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.

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About this data

Indicator
Compulsory education, duration (years)
Unit
years
Source
Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
243 places, 6,506 data points, 1975–2025
Last refreshed

Duration of compulsory education is the number of years that children are legally obliged to attend school.