World Facts

Countries ranked by expected years of schooling

Every country ranked by expected years of schooling, highest to lowest. Monaco tops the list at 21.7 yrs; South Sudan is lowest at 5.6 yrs.

See it on the interactive mappublic
Highest
  1. 1Monaco21.7 yrs
  2. 2Greece20.8 yrs
  3. 3Australia20.7 yrs
  4. 4Turkey19.8 yrs
  5. 5Finland19.5 yrs
Lowest
  1. 195South Sudan5.6 yrs
  2. 194Djibouti6.2 yrs
  3. 193Mali7.0 yrs
  4. 192Eritrea7.3 yrs
  5. 191Syria7.4 yrs

Full ranking — all 195 countries

#CountryExpected years of schooling
1 Monaco
21.7 yrs
2 Greece
20.8 yrs
3 Australia
20.7 yrs
4 Turkey
19.8 yrs
5 Finland
19.5 yrs
6 New Zealand
19.3 yrs
7 Ireland
19.2 yrs
8 Belgium
19.0 yrs
9 Sweden
19.0 yrs
10 Iceland
18.9 yrs
11 Argentina
18.8 yrs
12 Norway
18.8 yrs
13 Denmark
18.7 yrs
14 Netherlands
18.6 yrs
15 Saint Kitts and Nevis
18.4 yrs
16 Seychelles
18.2 yrs
17 Spain
17.8 yrs
18 United Kingdom
17.8 yrs
19 Tonga
17.8 yrs
20 Portugal
17.5 yrs
21 Slovenia
17.5 yrs
22 Uruguay
17.5 yrs
23 Germany
17.3 yrs
24 Chile
16.9 yrs
25 Hong Kong
16.9 yrs
26 Saudi Arabia
16.9 yrs
27 Czechia
16.8 yrs
28 Georgia
16.8 yrs
29 Switzerland
16.7 yrs
30 Italy
16.7 yrs
31 Poland
16.7 yrs
32 Singapore
16.7 yrs
33 Barbados
16.6 yrs
34 Grenada
16.6 yrs
35 South Korea
16.6 yrs
36 Lithuania
16.5 yrs
37 Latvia
16.5 yrs
38 Marshall Islands
16.4 yrs
39 Austria
16.3 yrs
40 Costa Rica
16.3 yrs
41 Croatia
16.3 yrs
42 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
16.3 yrs
43 Cyprus
16.2 yrs
44 France
16.1 yrs
45 Estonia
16.0 yrs
46 Bahrain
15.9 yrs
47 Canada
15.9 yrs
48 Kuwait
15.9 yrs
49 Malta
15.9 yrs
50 United States
15.9 yrs
51 Brazil
15.8 yrs
52 United Arab Emirates
15.6 yrs
53 Bolivia
15.6 yrs
54 Antigua and Barbuda
15.5 yrs
55 China
15.5 yrs
56 Algeria
15.5 yrs
57 Hungary
15.5 yrs
58 Japan
15.5 yrs
59 Montenegro
15.5 yrs
60 Vietnam
15.5 yrs
61 Liechtenstein
15.4 yrs
62 Thailand
15.4 yrs
63 Bulgaria
15.3 yrs
64 Eswatini
15.2 yrs
65 Morocco
15.1 yrs
66 Serbia
15.0 yrs
67 Ecuador
14.9 yrs
68 Israel
14.9 yrs
69 Peru
14.9 yrs
70 Slovakia
14.9 yrs
71 North Macedonia
14.8 yrs
72 Tunisia
14.7 yrs
73 Moldova
14.6 yrs
74 San Marino
14.6 yrs
75 Albania
14.5 yrs
76 Andorra
14.5 yrs
77 Mexico
14.5 yrs
78 Armenia
14.4 yrs
79 Luxembourg
14.4 yrs
80 Colombia
14.3 yrs
81 Dominica
14.2 yrs
82 Mauritius
14.2 yrs
83 Trinidad and Tobago
14.2 yrs
84 Palau
14.1 yrs
85 Romania
14.1 yrs
86 Iran
14.0 yrs
87 Kazakhstan
14.0 yrs
88 Paraguay
14.0 yrs
89 Cuba
13.9 yrs
90 Fiji
13.8 yrs
91 Nepal
13.8 yrs
92 South Africa
13.8 yrs
93 Belarus
13.7 yrs
94 Brunei
13.7 yrs
95 Dominican Republic
13.6 yrs
96 Mongolia
13.6 yrs
97 Oman
13.4 yrs
98 Comoros
13.3 yrs
99 Indonesia
13.3 yrs
100 Panama
13.3 yrs
101 East Timor
13.3 yrs
102 Ukraine
13.3 yrs
103 Bosnia and Herzegovina
13.2 yrs
104 Bhutan
13.2 yrs
105 Russia
13.2 yrs
106 Turkmenistan
13.2 yrs
107 Egypt
13.1 yrs
108 Jordan
13.1 yrs
109 Sri Lanka
13.1 yrs
110 Qatar
13.1 yrs
111 Togo
13.1 yrs
112 Guyana
13.0 yrs
113 India
13.0 yrs
114 Palestine
13.0 yrs
115 Venezuela
13.0 yrs
116 Azerbaijan
12.9 yrs
117 Libya
12.9 yrs
118 Sao Tome and Principe
12.9 yrs
119 Maldives
12.8 yrs
120 Nauru
12.8 yrs
121 Philippines
12.8 yrs
122 Congo
12.7 yrs
123 Kyrgyzstan
12.7 yrs
124 Saint Lucia
12.7 yrs
125 Malaysia
12.7 yrs
126 Rwanda
12.6 yrs
127 Gabon
12.5 yrs
128 Equatorial Guinea
12.5 yrs
129 Uzbekistan
12.5 yrs
130 Iraq
12.4 yrs
131 Jamaica
12.4 yrs
132 Tuvalu
12.4 yrs
133 Samoa
12.4 yrs
134 Bangladesh
12.3 yrs
135 Angola
12.2 yrs
136 North Korea
12.2 yrs
137 Belize
12.0 yrs
138 Bahamas
11.9 yrs
139 Kiribati
11.9 yrs
140 Namibia
11.8 yrs
141 Vanuatu
11.8 yrs
142 Lebanon
11.7 yrs
143 Uganda
11.6 yrs
144 Micronesia (country)
11.5 yrs
145 Kenya
11.5 yrs
146 Myanmar
11.5 yrs
147 Nicaragua
11.5 yrs
148 Papua New Guinea
11.5 yrs
149 Botswana
11.4 yrs
150 Cote d'Ivoire
11.4 yrs
151 Cape Verde
11.4 yrs
152 Ghana
11.4 yrs
153 Solomon Islands
11.3 yrs
154 Cambodia
11.2 yrs
155 El Salvador
11.1 yrs
156 Zimbabwe
11.1 yrs
157 Lesotho
11.0 yrs
158 Suriname
11.0 yrs
159 Zambia
11.0 yrs
160 Democratic Republic of Congo
10.9 yrs
161 Haiti
10.9 yrs
162 Afghanistan
10.8 yrs
163 Cameroon
10.8 yrs
164 Mozambique
10.8 yrs
165 Tajikistan
10.8 yrs
166 Guatemala
10.7 yrs
167 Guinea-Bissau
10.6 yrs
168 Liberia
10.5 yrs
169 Nigeria
10.5 yrs
170 Benin
10.4 yrs
171 Guinea
10.4 yrs
172 Honduras
10.2 yrs
173 Malawi
9.9 yrs
174 Burundi
9.8 yrs
175 Laos
9.6 yrs
176 Ethiopia
9.2 yrs
177 Madagascar
9.1 yrs
178 Senegal
9.1 yrs
179 Sierra Leone
9.1 yrs
180 Gambia
9.0 yrs
181 Burkina Faso
8.7 yrs
182 Sudan
8.6 yrs
183 Tanzania
8.6 yrs
184 Niger
8.3 yrs
185 Chad
8.3 yrs
186 Mauritania
7.9 yrs
187 Pakistan
7.9 yrs
188 Somalia
7.5 yrs
189 Yemen
7.5 yrs
190 Central African Republic
7.4 yrs
191 Syria
7.4 yrs
192 Eritrea
7.3 yrs
193 Mali
7.0 yrs
194 Djibouti
6.2 yrs
195 South Sudan
5.6 yrs

Common questions

Which country has the highest expected years of schooling?

Monaco, at 21.7 yrs — the highest of all 195 countries with data.

Which country has the lowest expected years of schooling?

South Sudan, at 5.6 yrs, ranks lowest among the 195 countries in this list.

How many countries are ranked?

195 countries and territories with recent data are included, ordered from highest to lowest.

Where does the data come from?

UNDP (via Our World in Data). The ranking updates as new data is published.

Source: UNDP (via Our World in Data). See the data on the interactive expected years of schooling map, or browse all country rankings.

Last updated: 3 August 2026.