B BullDozer

Mean Years of Schooling

Average years of formal education among adults. Our World in Data, 1985–2020.

Source: Our World in Data Licence: CC BY 4.0 Unit: years Parsed: 2026-09-28 Open source ↗

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Avg (2020)
9.4
+0.40pp vs 2015
Improving
32
of 146 tracked
Declining
0
period over period
Stable
114
±0.5pp band

Mean Years of Schooling

Interactive — choose a period, search a country, switch between bars, table and map.

azenha.ai/bulldozer

Trend over time

Group average by period, 1985–2020.

2.85.27.61012.4 19851990199520002005201020152020
AsiaEuropeAfricaAmericas

azenha.ai/bulldozer

Movers

Biggest period-over-period changes.

Top risers

EntityNowChange
🇾🇪 Yemen 5.6 +1.0pp
🇦🇫 Afghanistan 5.7 +0.90pp
🇲🇿 Mozambique 4.2 +0.90pp
🇧🇯 Benin 6.3 +0.90pp
🇲🇱 Mali 3.6 +0.80pp

Top fallers

EntityNowChange
🇳🇿 New Zealand 10.8 -0.10pp
🇹🇯 Tajikistan 10.1 -0.10pp

By group

Change by group, latest period.

Africa +0.60pp
Asia +0.40pp
Americas +0.30pp
Europe +0.20pp
GroupMembersAvgChange
Europe 38 11.7 +0.20pp
Americas 27 9.5 +0.30pp
Asia 43 9.4 +0.40pp
Africa 38 6.8 +0.60pp

Mean Years of Schooling — full ranking

Every entity in this dataset, in HTML. The interactive panel above shows the same numbers; this is the one that survives without JavaScript.

146 entities, 2020, change vs 2015. Highest first.
#EntityMean Years of SchoolingChange
1🇮🇪 Ireland13.7+0.10pp
2🇰🇷 South Korea13.7+0.40pp
3🇮🇸 Iceland13.5+0.50pp
4🇺🇸 United States13.30.00pp
5🇩🇪 Germany13.1+0.20pp
6🇸🇬 Singapore13.1+0.60pp
7🇸🇰 Slovakia13.1+0.10pp
8🇨🇭 Switzerland130.00pp
9🇦🇺 Australia12.90.00pp
10🇨🇦 Canada12.9+0.10pp
11🇨🇿 Czechia12.90.00pp
12🇬🇧 United Kingdom12.9+0.20pp
13🇭🇰 Hong Kong12.8+0.50pp
14🇯🇵 Japan12.8+0.20pp
15🇹🇼 Taiwan12.8+0.40pp
16🇱🇹 Lithuania12.5+0.10pp
17🇨🇾 Cyprus12.4+0.30pp
18🇪🇪 Estonia12.30.00pp
19🇲🇹 Malta12.1+0.60pp
20🇳🇴 Norway12.10.00pp
21🇸🇮 Slovenia12.1+0.10pp
22🇭🇷 Croatia12+0.20pp
23🇭🇺 Hungary12+0.20pp
24🇮🇱 Israel120.00pp
25🇱🇻 Latvia12+0.20pp
26🇲🇾 Malaysia12+0.50pp
27🇵🇱 Poland12+0.20pp
28🇫🇷 France11.9+0.30pp
29🇬🇷 Greece11.9+0.30pp
30🇸🇪 Sweden11.90.00pp
31🇰🇿 Kazakhstan11.8+0.10pp
32🇳🇱 Netherlands11.8+0.10pp
33🇩🇰 Denmark11.70.00pp
34🇷🇸 Serbia11.7+0.20pp
35🇧🇪 Belgium11.6+0.20pp
36🇨🇺 Cuba11.6+0.50pp
37🇷🇺 Russia11.60.00pp
38🇫🇯 Fiji11.5+0.40pp
39🇮🇹 Italy11.5+0.40pp
40🇱🇺 Luxembourg11.5+0.10pp
41🇪🇸 Spain11.5+0.30pp
42🇹🇴 Tonga11.4+0.20pp
43🇷🇴 Romania11.3+0.20pp
44🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago11.3+0.30pp
45🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan11.2+0.10pp
46🇫🇮 Finland11.1+0.20pp
47🇲🇴 Macao11+0.40pp
48🇧🇬 Bulgaria10.8+0.10pp
49🇯🇴 Jordan10.8+0.30pp
50🇲🇩 Moldova10.80.00pp
51🇳🇿 New Zealand10.8-0.10pp
52🇺🇦 Ukraine10.80.00pp
53🇧🇿 Belize10.7+0.10pp
54🇨🇱 Chile10.7+0.20pp
55🇧🇼 Botswana10.6+0.30pp
56🇦🇲 Armenia10.50.00pp
57🇿🇦 South Africa10.5+0.30pp
58🇦🇹 Austria10.4+0.10pp
59🇲🇺 Mauritius10.4+0.50pp
60🇵🇦 Panama10.4+0.30pp
61🇦🇱 Albania10.3+0.30pp
62🇱🇰 Sri Lanka10.3+0.20pp
63🇨🇴 Colombia10.2+0.40pp
64🇬🇦 Gabon10.2+0.70pp
65🇲🇽 Mexico10.2+0.50pp
66🇯🇲 Jamaica10.1+0.30pp
67🇹🇯 Tajikistan10.1-0.10pp
68🇲🇳 Mongolia10+0.20pp
69🇵🇪 Peru10+0.40pp
70🇦🇷 Argentina9.9+0.30pp
71🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia9.9+0.60pp
72🇮🇷 Iran9.8+0.40pp
73🇧🇧 Barbados9.7+0.20pp
74🇱🇾 Libya9.6+0.50pp
75🇵🇹 Portugal9.6+0.50pp
76🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates9.6+0.20pp
77🇵🇭 Philippines9.4+0.30pp
78🇧🇳 Brunei9.3+0.20pp
79🇹🇭 Thailand9.3+0.60pp
80🇹🇳 Tunisia9.3+0.70pp
81🇻🇪 Venezuela9.3+0.30pp
82🇧🇴 Bolivia9.1+0.50pp
83🇨🇷 Costa Rica9.1+0.30pp
84🇪🇨 Ecuador9.1+0.60pp
85🇮🇩 Indonesia9.1+0.60pp
86🇨🇳 China9+0.50pp
87🇩🇴 Dominican Republic9+0.50pp
88🇵🇾 Paraguay8.8+0.40pp
89🇺🇾 Uruguay8.8+0.10pp
90🇷🇪 Reunion8.7+0.20pp
91🇬🇾 Guyana8.5+0.20pp
92🇶🇦 Qatar8.50.00pp
93🇹🇷 Turkey8.5+0.40pp
94🇬🇭 Ghana8.4+0.70pp
95🇻🇳 Vietnam8.4+0.40pp
96🇿🇲 Zambia8.4+0.50pp
97🇮🇶 Iraq8.3+0.50pp
98🇿🇼 Zimbabwe8.3+0.30pp
99🇩🇿 Algeria8.2+0.60pp
100🇧🇭 Bahrain8.2+0.40pp
101🇸🇻 El Salvador8.1+0.40pp
102🇲🇻 Maldives8.1+0.50pp
103🇧🇷 Brazil8+0.30pp
104🇪🇬 Egypt8+0.50pp
105🇸🇾 Syria7.9+0.50pp
106🇮🇳 India7.8+0.50pp
107🇳🇮 Nicaragua7.8+0.50pp
108🇹🇬 Togo7.7+0.80pp
109🇭🇳 Honduras7.5+0.50pp
110🇨🇲 Cameroon7.4+0.30pp
111🇧🇩 Bangladesh7.2+0.40pp
112🇱🇸 Lesotho6.9+0.50pp
113🇳🇦 Namibia6.9+0.30pp
114🇹🇿 Tanzania6.9+0.50pp
115🇲🇦 Morocco6.8+0.60pp
116🇨🇬 Congo6.7+0.20pp
117🇰🇪 Kenya6.7+0.40pp
118🇺🇬 Uganda6.7+0.40pp
119🇰🇼 Kuwait6.6+0.10pp
120🇸🇿 Eswatini6.5+0.70pp
121🇲🇲 Myanmar6.5+0.60pp
122🇵🇰 Pakistan6.4+0.50pp
123🇧🇯 Benin6.3+0.90pp
124🇬🇹 Guatemala6.3+0.60pp
125🇳🇵 Nepal6.2+0.80pp
126🇨🇮 Cote d'Ivoire6.1+0.70pp
127🇱🇦 Laos6.1+0.60pp
128🇭🇹 Haiti6+0.50pp
129🇰🇭 Cambodia5.8+0.50pp
130🇱🇷 Liberia5.8+0.70pp
131🇦🇫 Afghanistan5.7+0.90pp
132🇲🇷 Mauritania5.6+0.50pp
133🇾🇪 Yemen5.6+1.0pp
134🇲🇼 Malawi5.4+0.50pp
135🇷🇼 Rwanda5.2+0.60pp
136🇧🇮 Burundi5.1+0.80pp
137🇸🇱 Sierra Leone5+0.80pp
138🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of Congo4.9+0.60pp
139🇬🇲 Gambia4.9+0.50pp
140🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea4.8+0.20pp
141🇨🇫 Central African Republic4.6+0.40pp
142🇸🇳 Senegal4.4+0.70pp
143🇸🇩 Sudan4.4+0.50pp
144🇲🇿 Mozambique4.2+0.90pp
145🇲🇱 Mali3.6+0.80pp
146🇳🇪 Niger3+0.60pp

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