Mean Years of Schooling 1996

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

156 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
13.1 years
Lowest
Yemen
0.85 years
Median country
7.07 years
Countries with data
156

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Complete Data Rankings

Rank
Actions
1
United States flag
United States
13.1 years
2
Norway flag
Norway
11.933 years
3
Japan flag
Japan
11.907 years
4
Denmark flag
Denmark
11.815 years
5
Canada flag
Canada
11.79 years
6
New Zealand flag
New Zealand
11.735 years
7
Germany flag
Germany
11.616 years
8
Netherlands flag
Netherlands
11.489 years
9
Australia flag
Australia
11.326 years
10
Iceland flag
Iceland
11.221 years
11
Estonia flag
Estonia
11.143 years
12
Turkmenistan flag
Turkmenistan
10.944 years
13
Latvia flag
Latvia
10.909 years
14
Russia flag
Russia
10.889 years
15
Liechtenstein flag
Liechtenstein
10.786 years
16
Austria flag
Austria
10.744 years
17
Poland flag
Poland
10.734 years
18
Sweden flag
Sweden
10.713 years
19
Bahamas flag
Bahamas
10.628 years
20
Samoa flag
Samoa
10.553 years
21
Finland flag
Finland
10.523 years
22
Switzerland flag
Switzerland
10.514 years
23
Tajikistan flag
Tajikistan
10.372 years
24
Ukraine flag
Ukraine
10.323 years
25
Israel flag
Israel
10.303 years
26
Czech Republic flag
Czech Republic
10.233 years
27
Lithuania flag
Lithuania
10.211 years
28
United Kingdom flag
United Kingdom
10.205 years
29
Armenia flag
Armenia
10.205 years
30
Belgium flag
Belgium
10.194 years
31
Azerbaijan flag
Azerbaijan
10.142 years
32
South Korea flag
South Korea
10.124 years
33
Belarus flag
Belarus
10.044 years
34
Tonga flag
Tonga
10.03 years
35
Ireland flag
Ireland
9.97 years
36
Hungary flag
Hungary
9.895 years
37
Kyrgyzstan flag
Kyrgyzstan
9.885 years
38
Republic of Moldova flag
Republic of Moldova
9.873 years
39
Luxembourg flag
Luxembourg
9.86 years
40
China, Hong Kong SAR flag
China, Hong Kong SAR
9.77 years
41
Sri Lanka flag
Sri Lanka
9.685 years
42
Cuba flag
Cuba
9.625 years
43
Cyprus flag
Cyprus
9.26 years
44
Slovenia flag
Slovenia
9.172 years
45
Romania flag
Romania
9.086 years
46
Barbados flag
Barbados
9.015 years
47
Kazakhstan flag
Kazakhstan
8.863 years
48
Chile flag
Chile
8.855 years
49
Singapore flag
Singapore
8.839 years
50
Slovakia flag
Slovakia
8.71 years
51
Mongolia flag
Mongolia
8.704 years
52
France flag
France
8.703 years
53
San Marino flag
San Marino
8.64 years
54
Greece flag
Greece
8.586 years
55
Bulgaria flag
Bulgaria
8.557 years
56
Argentina flag
Argentina
8.53 years
57
Croatia flag
Croatia
8.395 years
58
South Africa flag
South Africa
8.281 years
59
Trinidad and Tobago flag
Trinidad and Tobago
8.267 years
60
Italy flag
Italy
8.224 years
61
Peru flag
Peru
8.127 years
62
Brunei Darussalam flag
Brunei Darussalam
8.106 years
63
Tuvalu flag
Tuvalu
7.826 years
64
Panama flag
Panama
7.692 years
65
Fiji flag
Fiji
7.69 years
66
Albania flag
Albania
7.624 years
67
United Arab Emirates flag
United Arab Emirates
7.497 years
68
Uruguay flag
Uruguay
7.47 years
69
Iran flag
Iran
7.414 years
70
Philippines flag
Philippines
7.414 years
71
Costa Rica flag
Costa Rica
7.323 years
72
Malaysia flag
Malaysia
7.23 years
73
Qatar flag
Qatar
7.194 years
74
Jamaica flag
Jamaica
7.188 years
75
Malta flag
Malta
7.103 years
76
Saint Lucia flag
Saint Lucia
7.103 years
77
Ecuador flag
Ecuador
7.092 years
78
Serbia flag
Serbia
7.072 years
79
Spain flag
Spain
7.058 years
80
Botswana flag
Botswana
6.89 years
81
Bahrain flag
Bahrain
6.865 years
82
Congo flag
Congo
6.857 years
83
Venezuela flag
Venezuela
6.829 years
84
Colombia flag
Colombia
6.655 years
85
Bolivia flag
Bolivia
6.654 years
86
Jordan flag
Jordan
6.589 years
87
Belize flag
Belize
6.481 years
88
Mexico flag
Mexico
6.376 years
89
Paraguay flag
Paraguay
6.372 years
90
Egypt flag
Egypt
6.33 years
91
Portugal flag
Portugal
6.311 years
92
Nicaragua flag
Nicaragua
6.289 years
93
Saudi Arabia flag
Saudi Arabia
6.196 years
94
Mauritius flag
Mauritius
6.124 years
95
Dominican Republic flag
Dominican Republic
6.031 years
96
Eswatini flag
Eswatini
6.022 years
97
Zimbabwe flag
Zimbabwe
5.932 years
98
Kuwait flag
Kuwait
5.901 years
99
North Macedonia flag
North Macedonia
5.793 years
100
Namibia flag
Namibia
5.755 years
101
Guyana flag
Guyana
5.7 years
102
Gabon flag
Gabon
5.406 years
103
China flag
China
5.328 years
104
Iraq flag
Iraq
5.298 years
105
Thailand flag
Thailand
5.212 years
106
Zambia flag
Zambia
5.026 years
107
Algeria flag
Algeria
4.988 years
108
Vietnam flag
Vietnam
4.956 years
109
Ghana flag
Ghana
4.902 years
110
Turkey flag
Turkey
4.876 years
111
Libya flag
Libya
4.868 years
112
Indonesia flag
Indonesia
4.859 years
113
Kenya flag
Kenya
4.833 years
114
Congo, Democratic Republic of the flag
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
4.679 years
115
Lesotho flag
Lesotho
4.623 years
116
Brazil flag
Brazil
4.586 years
117
El Salvador flag
El Salvador
4.473 years
118
Sao Tome and Principe flag
Sao Tome and Principe
4.413 years
119
Honduras flag
Honduras
4.329 years
120
Tunisia flag
Tunisia
4.327 years
121
Syrian Arab Republic flag
Syrian Arab Republic
4.288 years
122
Laos flag
Laos
3.96 years
123
Bangladesh flag
Bangladesh
3.912 years
124
Tanzania flag
Tanzania
3.874 years
125
Nigeria flag
Nigeria
3.809 years
126
Guatemala flag
Guatemala
3.641 years
127
Uganda flag
Uganda
3.636 years
128
India flag
India
3.466 years
129
Haiti flag
Haiti
3.298 years
130
Liberia flag
Liberia
3.232 years
131
Cambodia flag
Cambodia
3.147 years
132
Papua New Guinea flag
Papua New Guinea
3.084 years
133
Pakistan flag
Pakistan
2.916 years
134
Togo flag
Togo
2.805 years
135
Morocco flag
Morocco
2.78 years
136
Nepal flag
Nepal
2.768 years
137
Mauritania flag
Mauritania
2.726 years
138
Cameroon flag
Cameroon
2.641 years
139
Malawi flag
Malawi
2.584 years
140
Côte d'Ivoire flag
Côte d'Ivoire
2.56 years
141
Myanmar flag
Myanmar
2.548 years
142
Sierra Leone flag
Sierra Leone
2.445 years
143
Central African Republic flag
Central African Republic
2.281 years
144
Rwanda flag
Rwanda
2.197 years
145
Gambia flag
Gambia
2.068 years
146
Sudan flag
Sudan
2.064 years
147
Benin flag
Benin
1.95 years
148
Senegal flag
Senegal
1.84 years
149
Burundi flag
Burundi
1.783 years
150
Mozambique flag
Mozambique
1.584 years
151
Guinea flag
Guinea
1.39 years
152
Djibouti flag
Djibouti
1.221 years
153
Afghanistan flag
Afghanistan
1.124 years
154
Mali flag
Mali
1.062 years
155
Niger flag
Niger
0.975 years
156
Yemen flag
Yemen
0.847 years

↑Top 10 Countries

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

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

↓Bottom 10 Countries

  1. #156Yemen flagYemen
  2. #155Niger flagNiger
  3. #154Mali flagMali
  4. #153Afghanistan flagAfghanistan
  5. #152Djibouti flagDjibouti
  6. #151Guinea flagGuinea
  7. #150Mozambique flagMozambique
  8. #149Burundi flagBurundi
  9. #148Senegal flagSenegal
  10. #147Benin flagBenin

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, 1996. Retrieved November 13, 2026, from https://geofactbook.com/fact/mean-years-of-schooling/1996

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.