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Dataset · UNDP Human Development Report Office

Mean Years of Schooling

34 years, 1990–2023 · 193 countries

Mean years of schooling is the average number of years of education adults aged 25 and over have actually completed. It is the backward-looking half of the Human Development Index’s education dimension, and the slowest of its parts to move.

This site holds every year from 1990 to 2023, read from UNDP Human Development Report Office’s own data and stored exactly as published.

Open Mean Years of Schooling, 2023Download all 34 · CSVSee it charted by country →
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Mean Years of Schooling · the file

Newest
Mean Years of Schooling, 2023
Held
34 years · 6,081 rows
Licence
CC BY 3.0 IGO

0134 years

Every year

Every year comes from UNDP Human Development Report Office’s 2025 release, recalculated on one method. Each opens the full table for that year; each downloads as a CSV.

1990bar height: countries covered, up to 1932023
Every year of Mean Years of Schooling held on this site, newest first, with its download files.
YearCountriesChangeReadDownload
Mean Years of Schooling, 2023Newest193±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2022193+1September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2021192±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2020192±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2019192±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2018192±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2017192±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2016192±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2015192±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2014192±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2013192±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2012192±0September 10, 2026CSV
Show all 34 years
YearCountriesChangeReadDownload
Mean Years of Schooling, 2011192+1September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2010191+1September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2009190±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2008190+1September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2007189±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2006189±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2005189+6September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2004183+2September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2003181+1September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2002180+1September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2001179±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 2000179+20September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 1999159+3September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 1998156±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 1997156±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 1996156±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 1995156+4September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 1994152±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 1993152±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 1992152±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 1991152±0September 10, 2026CSV
Mean Years of Schooling, 1990152—September 10, 2026CSV

Every year in one file, one row per country per year: mean-years-schooling-all-editions-nations-inquiry.csv

023 columns

What’s in the file

Every column, what it holds, how it is stored and what its values look like — what a reader needs before opening the file.

Every column in the newest file of Mean Years of Schooling: what it holds, how it is stored, and its range.
ColumnWhat it holdsStored asRange, 2023DistinctEmptySpread
CountrycountryNameThe country’s name, as this file spells it.Text—1930
ISO Codecountry_codeIdentifierThe ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code, added by this site. Every table here joins on it.Text · 3 letters—1930
Mean years of schooling (adults 25+)mean_years_schoolingHeadlineThe headline figure: Mean years of schooling (adults 25+).Number · up to 9 decimals1.41229Niger14.29637Germanymiddle 9.933021910

Profiled from the newest file. Range: the lowest and highest value, with the country holding it when only one does. Spread: countries in ten equal steps from lowest to highest. A higher value is the better result.

03193 countries across every year

Who is covered

How many countries each year holds, continent by continent, who joined and who left, and which places this site covers that the dataset never has.

All regions
Countries in each year of Mean Years of Schooling, by continent.
201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Africa535353535353535353535454
Americas353535353535353535353535
Asia484848484848484848484848
Europe424242424242424242424242
Oceania141414141414141414141414
All192192192192192192192192192192193193

The newest 12 of 34 years.

Who joined and who left

  • 2022
    + Somalia
  • 2011
    + Marshall Islands
  • 2010
    + Bhutan
  • 2008
    + South Sudan
  • 2005
    + Burkina Faso+ Eritrea+ Guinea-Bissau+ Saint Kitts and Nevis+ Lebanon+ Vanuatu
  • 2004
    + Palestine+ Suriname
  • 2003
    + Montenegro
  • 2002
    + Grenada

Not in this dataset · 32 places this site covers

UNDP Human Development Report Office gives no figure for these in any year held here. It is the publisher’s choice of scope, and each place’s profile shows what is measured.

American SamoaAnguillaArubaBermudaBritish Virgin IslandsCayman IslandsChannel IslandsCook IslandsCuraçaoFaroe IslandsFrench PolynesiaGibraltarGreenlandGuamIsle of ManKosovoMacauMonacoMontserratNew CaledoniaNiueNorth KoreaNorthern CyprusNorthern Mariana IslandsPuerto RicoSaint MartinSint MaartenSomalilandTaiwanTurks and Caicos IslandsUnited States Virgin IslandsVatican City

04Provenance

Where it comes from

The path from the publisher to this page, and what was checked and changed on the way.

The site’s method

  1. 1 · Publisher

    UNDP Human Development Report Office

    hdr.undp.org

  2. 2 · Their file

    Mean Years of Schooling 2023

    HDR25_Composite_indices_complete_time_series.csv

  3. 3 · Read by this site

    September 10, 2026

    Imported by a script that parses each figure and writes it down unrounded.

  4. 4 · Stored as

    34 files, one per year

    Each downloads as a CSV, or every year together as mean-years-schooling-all-editions-nations-inquiry.csv

  5. 5 · Used on

    Its statistic page, and every profile it measures

    /statistics/mean-years-schooling

Precision

The headline is stored to 9 decimals, as published.

Rounded by this site

Never. Tables on screen may show fewer decimals; the files never do.

Changed by this site

Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

From UNDP’s Human Development Report composite-indices file. The 34 reference years come from one report, not 34 publications. UNDP publishes no rank for this figure.

05Reuse

Licence and credit

What the publisher’s licence lets you do, what it asks of you, and a credit line and citation ready to copy.

Every publisher’s terms

Licence · checked September 5, 2026

CC BY 3.0 IGO

  • Share and redistribute it
  • Adapt it and build on it
  • Use it commercially
  • Credit the publisher
  • Say what you changed

The version of CC BY written for intergovernmental organisations. Credit the publisher and say what you changed.

A credit line

Source: UNDP Human Development Report Office, Mean Years of Schooling, via Nations Inquiry.

Cite this dataset

UNDP Human Development Report Office. Mean Years of Schooling, 1990–2023 [data set]. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/mean-years-schooling

The publisher’s own citation: UNDP. Human Development Report. New York: United Nations Development Programme.

Plain-language summary, not legal advice. The licence text is what binds.

06Questions

Mean Years of Schooling: questions and answers

What is the Mean Years of Schooling?

Mean years of schooling is the average number of years of education adults aged 25 and over have actually completed. It is the backward-looking half of the Human Development Index’s education dimension, and the slowest of its parts to move.

Which years of the Mean Years of Schooling can I download?

All 34, from 1990 to 2023, each as a CSV file, or every year together in one CSV.

Does UNDP Human Development Report Office rank countries on it?

No. UNDP Human Development Report Office publishes values only. The positions shown on this site are derived by ordering the published values, and are labelled as ours.

Can I use it commercially?

Yes, under CC BY 3.0 IGO, with credit to UNDP Human Development Report Office. The licence text is linked on this page.

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