What is primary school starting age in North Korea?

Primary school starting age in North Korea was 7 years in 2025, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

What is the highest primary school starting age recorded in North Korea?

The highest recorded value was 7 years in 1998.

What is the lowest primary school starting age recorded in North Korea?

The lowest recorded value was 6 years in 1970.

How does North Korea rank for primary school starting age?

North Korea ranks 1st out of 210 countries with data for 2025.

Is primary school starting age 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 Primary school starting age (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Primary school starting age in North Korea

Name: Primary school starting age in North Korea
Creator: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
License: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)

North Korea: Primary school starting age was 7 years in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)

7 years

Change on year

unchanged

World rank

1st

of 210 countries

All-time high

7 years

in 1998

All-time low

6 years

in 1970

Years of data

1970–2025

Primary school starting age in North Korea, 1970–2025

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for primary school starting age in North Korea is 7 years, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 56 years on record.

The figure is unchanged over ten years.

Over the whole period, primary school starting age in North Korea peaked at 7 years in 1998 and was at its lowest, 6 years, in 1970.

North Korea ranks 1st of 210 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 56 years of available data.

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1970s	6 years	6 years	6 years	10
1980s	6 years	6 years	6 years	10
1990s	6.2 years	6 years	7 years	10
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 North Korea

1 Afghanistan 7 years compare
1 Bulgaria 7 years compare
1 Croatia 7 years compare
1 El Salvador 7 years compare
1 Equatorial Guinea 7 years compare
1 Estonia 7 years compare
1 Ethiopia 7 years compare
1 Finland 7 years compare
1 Gambia 7 years compare
1 Guatemala 7 years compare
1 Guinea 7 years compare
1 Hungary 7 years compare
1 Indonesia 7 years compare
1 Kyrgyzstan 7 years compare
1 Latvia 7 years compare
1 Liechtenstein 7 years compare
1 Lithuania 7 years compare
1 Mali 7 years compare
1 Moldova 7 years compare
1 Namibia 7 years compare
1 Niger 7 years compare
1 Papua New Guinea 7 years compare
1 Poland 7 years compare
1 Russia 7 years compare
1 Serbia 7 years compare
1 South Africa 7 years compare
1 Sweden 7 years compare
1 Tajikistan 7 years compare
1 Tanzania 7 years compare
1 Uzbekistan 7 years compare
1 Zambia 7 years compare

See the full ranking of 210 places →

More education data for North Korea

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 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)
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)
Government expenditure on education, total 14.6% (2025)

All data for North Korea →

Frequently asked questions

What is primary school starting age in North Korea?: Primary school starting age in North Korea was 7 years in 2025, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
What is the highest primary school starting age recorded in North Korea?: The highest recorded value was 7 years in 1998.
What is the lowest primary school starting age recorded in North Korea?: The lowest recorded value was 6 years in 1970.
How does North Korea rank for primary school starting age?: North Korea ranks 1st out of 210 countries with data for 2025.
Is primary school starting age 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 Primary school starting age (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 56 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

About this data

Indicator: Primary school starting age (years)
Unit: years
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 210 places, 11,539 data points, 1970–2025
Last refreshed: 06 August 2026

Primary school starting age is the age at which students would enter primary education, assuming they had started at the official entrance age for the lowest level of education, had studied full-time throughout and had progressed through the system without repeating or skipping a grade.