Primary school starting age in Nepal
Nepal: Primary school starting age was 5 years in 2025. ▼ Falling
Primary school starting age in Nepal, 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 Nepal is 5 years, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 47 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, primary school starting age in Nepal peaked at 6 years in 1970 and was at its lowest, 5 years, in 2003.
That places Nepal 186th out of 210 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 47 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 6 years | 6 years | 6 years | 2 |
| 1980s | 6 years | 6 years | 6 years | 9 |
| 1990s | 6 years | 6 years | 6 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 5.3 years | 5 years | 6 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years | 6 |
Countries ranked near Nepal
- 186 Antigua and Barbuda 5 years compare
- 186 Australia 5 years compare
- 186 Bahamas 5 years compare
- 186 Barbados 5 years compare
- 186 Belize 5 years compare
- 186 Bermuda 5 years compare
- 186 British Virgin Islands 5 years compare
- 186 Cayman Islands 5 years compare
- 186 Dominica 5 years compare
- 186 Gibraltar 5 years compare
- 186 Grenada 5 years compare
- 186 Ireland 5 years compare
- 186 Malta 5 years compare
- 186 Mauritius 5 years compare
- 186 Myanmar 5 years compare
- 186 New Zealand 5 years compare
- 186 Pakistan 5 years compare
- 186 Samoa 5 years compare
- 186 Sri Lanka 5 years compare
- 186 Saint Kitts and Nevis 5 years compare
- 186 Saint Lucia 5 years compare
- 186 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 5 years compare
- 186 Trinidad and Tobago 5 years compare
- 186 United Kingdom 5 years compare
More education data for Nepal
- Lower secondary school starting age 10 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 65.3% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 28.1% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 128.6% (2025)
- Primary education, teachers 157,456 (2025)
- School enrollment, primary, female 126.4% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary, male 130.6% (2025)
- Labor force, total 8.36 million (2025)
- Labor force, female 37.6% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index 0.9234 GPI (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is primary school starting age in Nepal?
- Primary school starting age in Nepal was 5 years in 2025, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
- What is the highest primary school starting age recorded in Nepal?
- The highest recorded value was 6 years in 1970.
- What is the lowest primary school starting age recorded in Nepal?
- The lowest recorded value was 5 years in 2003.
- How does Nepal rank for primary school starting age?
- Nepal ranks 186th out of 210 countries with data for 2025.
- Is primary school starting age rising or falling in Nepal?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Nepal 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 — 47 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
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.