Mean Years of Schooling 1990

Mean Years of Schooling indicates the average number of years of education received by people aged 25 and older.

152 data points••Global Coverage•Average years of schooling among adults | UNDP, Human Development Report via Our World in Data•

Newer data is available: Mean Years of Schooling by country 2023 →

Highest
United States
12.98 years
Lowest
Yemen
0.32 years
Median country
5.97 years
Countries with data
152

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Complete Data Rankings

Rank
Actions
1
United States flag
United States
12.98 years
2
Norway flag
Norway
11.71 years
3
Japan flag
Japan
11.64 years
4
Denmark flag
Denmark
11.48 years
5
Australia flag
Australia
11.225 years
6
Netherlands flag
Netherlands
11.103 years
7
Canada flag
Canada
10.749 years
8
Switzerland flag
Switzerland
10.534 years
9
Iceland flag
Iceland
10.508 years
10
Germany flag
Germany
10.364 years
11
Liechtenstein flag
Liechtenstein
10.24 years
12
Austria flag
Austria
10.2 years
13
New Zealand flag
New Zealand
10.14 years
14
Samoa flag
Samoa
10.128 years
15
Bahamas flag
Bahamas
10.01 years
16
Israel flag
Israel
9.899 years
17
Armenia flag
Armenia
9.783 years
18
Poland flag
Poland
9.668 years
19
Estonia flag
Estonia
9.659 years
20
Russia flag
Russia
9.653 years
21
United Kingdom flag
United Kingdom
9.637 years
22
Sweden flag
Sweden
9.55 years
23
Hungary flag
Hungary
9.48 years
24
Belgium flag
Belgium
9.405 years
25
Tajikistan flag
Tajikistan
9.303 years
26
Ukraine flag
Ukraine
9.279 years
27
South Korea flag
South Korea
9.27 years
28
Finland flag
Finland
9.18 years
29
Kyrgyzstan flag
Kyrgyzstan
9.171 years
30
Lithuania flag
Lithuania
9.161 years
31
Latvia flag
Latvia
9.157 years
32
Ireland flag
Ireland
9.132 years
33
Tonga flag
Tonga
9.12 years
34
Republic of Moldova flag
Republic of Moldova
9.12 years
35
Czech Republic flag
Czech Republic
9.105 years
36
Luxembourg flag
Luxembourg
8.819 years
37
Cuba flag
Cuba
8.793 years
38
China, Hong Kong SAR flag
China, Hong Kong SAR
8.67 years
39
Sri Lanka flag
Sri Lanka
8.525 years
40
Romania flag
Romania
8.495 years
41
Mongolia flag
Mongolia
8.488 years
42
Chile flag
Chile
8.385 years
43
Barbados flag
Barbados
8.369 years
44
Cyprus flag
Cyprus
8.294 years
45
San Marino flag
San Marino
8.13 years
46
Argentina flag
Argentina
8.123 years
47
Greece flag
Greece
7.813 years
48
Peru flag
Peru
7.775 years
49
France flag
France
7.55 years
50
Singapore flag
Singapore
7.54 years
51
Brunei Darussalam flag
Brunei Darussalam
7.51 years
52
Kazakhstan flag
Kazakhstan
7.501 years
53
Italy flag
Italy
7.438 years
54
Panama flag
Panama
7.41 years
55
Albania flag
Albania
7.352 years
56
Trinidad and Tobago flag
Trinidad and Tobago
7.25 years
57
Slovenia flag
Slovenia
7.192 years
58
Philippines flag
Philippines
7.18 years
59
Uruguay flag
Uruguay
7.155 years
60
Tuvalu flag
Tuvalu
7.125 years
61
Slovakia flag
Slovakia
6.863 years
62
Bulgaria flag
Bulgaria
6.811 years
63
Costa Rica flag
Costa Rica
6.808 years
64
Ecuador flag
Ecuador
6.75 years
65
South Africa flag
South Africa
6.7 years
66
Jamaica flag
Jamaica
6.688 years
67
Fiji flag
Fiji
6.599 years
68
Croatia flag
Croatia
6.566 years
69
Saint Lucia flag
Saint Lucia
6.561 years
70
Malta flag
Malta
6.464 years
71
Qatar flag
Qatar
6.412 years
72
Colombia flag
Colombia
6.347 years
73
Serbia flag
Serbia
6.299 years
74
Eswatini flag
Eswatini
6.29 years
75
Malaysia flag
Malaysia
6.147 years
76
Bolivia flag
Bolivia
5.994 years
77
Mexico flag
Mexico
5.95 years
78
Spain flag
Spain
5.879 years
79
Congo flag
Congo
5.861 years
80
Mauritius flag
Mauritius
5.86 years
81
United Arab Emirates flag
United Arab Emirates
5.758 years
82
Paraguay flag
Paraguay
5.745 years
83
Iran flag
Iran
5.739 years
84
Namibia flag
Namibia
5.701 years
85
Kuwait flag
Kuwait
5.639 years
86
Saudi Arabia flag
Saudi Arabia
5.575 years
87
Botswana flag
Botswana
5.52 years
88
Nicaragua flag
Nicaragua
5.515 years
89
Belize flag
Belize
5.453 years
90
Venezuela flag
Venezuela
5.34 years
91
Egypt flag
Egypt
5.303 years
92
Guyana flag
Guyana
5.271 years
93
Portugal flag
Portugal
5.271 years
94
Dominican Republic flag
Dominican Republic
5.266 years
95
Bahrain flag
Bahrain
5.11 years
96
Zimbabwe flag
Zimbabwe
5.027 years
97
Jordan flag
Jordan
5.005 years
98
Iraq flag
Iraq
4.87 years
99
North Macedonia flag
North Macedonia
4.603 years
100
Thailand flag
Thailand
4.51 years
101
Zambia flag
Zambia
4.48 years
102
Turkey flag
Turkey
4.457 years
103
Gabon flag
Gabon
4.32 years
104
Ghana flag
Ghana
4.183 years
105
China flag
China
4.14 years
106
Lesotho flag
Lesotho
4.113 years
107
Sao Tome and Principe flag
Sao Tome and Principe
4.099 years
108
Vietnam flag
Vietnam
4.099 years
109
Algeria flag
Algeria
3.917 years
110
Honduras flag
Honduras
3.864 years
111
Kenya flag
Kenya
3.838 years
112
Libya flag
Libya
3.81 years
113
Syrian Arab Republic flag
Syrian Arab Republic
3.783 years
114
El Salvador flag
El Salvador
3.73 years
115
Brazil flag
Brazil
3.685 years
116
Congo, Democratic Republic of the flag
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
3.516 years
117
Tunisia flag
Tunisia
3.464 years
118
Laos flag
Laos
3.366 years
119
Tanzania flag
Tanzania
3.332 years
120
Bangladesh flag
Bangladesh
3.297 years
121
Indonesia flag
Indonesia
3.22 years
122
Guatemala flag
Guatemala
3.194 years
123
Uganda flag
Uganda
3.175 years
124
Cambodia flag
Cambodia
2.818 years
125
India flag
India
2.781 years
126
Nigeria flag
Nigeria
2.752 years
127
Haiti flag
Haiti
2.68 years
128
Liberia flag
Liberia
2.649 years
129
Nepal flag
Nepal
2.467 years
130
Papua New Guinea flag
Papua New Guinea
2.395 years
131
Togo flag
Togo
2.317 years
132
Pakistan flag
Pakistan
2.316 years
133
Malawi flag
Malawi
2.278 years
134
Mauritania flag
Mauritania
2.267 years
135
Myanmar flag
Myanmar
2.221 years
136
Cameroon flag
Cameroon
2.137 years
137
Morocco flag
Morocco
2.11 years
138
Senegal flag
Senegal
1.998 years
139
Côte d'Ivoire flag
Côte d'Ivoire
1.971 years
140
Sierra Leone flag
Sierra Leone
1.905 years
141
Rwanda flag
Rwanda
1.904 years
142
Central African Republic flag
Central African Republic
1.868 years
143
Mozambique flag
Mozambique
1.6 years
144
Sudan flag
Sudan
1.5 years
145
Burundi flag
Burundi
1.46 years
146
Benin flag
Benin
1.453 years
147
Gambia flag
Gambia
1.395 years
148
Guinea flag
Guinea
1.313 years
149
Afghanistan flag
Afghanistan
0.872 years
150
Mali flag
Mali
0.844 years
151
Niger flag
Niger
0.728 years
152
Yemen flag
Yemen
0.323 years

↑Top 10 Countries

  1. #1United States flagUnited States
  2. #2Norway flagNorway
  3. #3Japan flagJapan
  4. #4Denmark flagDenmark
  5. #5Australia flagAustralia
  6. #6Netherlands flagNetherlands
  7. #7Canada flagCanada
  8. #8Switzerland flagSwitzerland
  9. #9Iceland flagIceland
  10. #10Germany flagGermany

Analysis: These countries represent the highest values in this dataset, showcasing significant scale and impact on global statistics.

↓Bottom 10 Countries

  1. #152Yemen flagYemen
  2. #151Niger flagNiger
  3. #150Mali flagMali
  4. #149Afghanistan flagAfghanistan
  5. #148Guinea flagGuinea
  6. #147Gambia flagGambia
  7. #146Benin flagBenin
  8. #145Burundi flagBurundi
  9. #144Sudan flagSudan
  10. #143Mozambique flagMozambique

Context: These countries or territories have the lowest values, often due to geographic size, administrative status, or specific characteristics.

Data Source

Average years of schooling among adults | UNDP, Human Development Report via Our World in Data

Data produced by UNDP, Human Development Report, compiled and published by Our World in Data as "Average years of schooling among adults".

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Cite this page

Geo Factbook. (n.d.). Mean Years of Schooling by Country, 1990. Retrieved November 13, 2026, from https://geofactbook.com/fact/mean-years-of-schooling/1990

The figures on this page come from Average years of schooling among adults | UNDP, Human Development Report via Our World in Data. For academic work, cite the original source as well.

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Historical Data by Year

Explore Mean Years of Schooling data across different years. Compare trends and see how statistics have changed over time.