Mean years of schooling (UNDP)
Definition
Average years of schooling completed by the population aged 25 and over. The other education component of the HDI. Because it looks at adults, it moves slowly: it reflects decades of past enrollment, not only recent policy. The whole series is recomputed with each report edition.
- Formula
- Mean years of schooling of the population aged 25 and over, from household surveys and censuses.
- Unit
- years
- License
- CC-BY-3.0-IGO
Mean years of schooling (UNDP)
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Chile
- Colombia
- Mexico
- Mean years of schooling (UNDP)
- Source: UNDP — Human Development Report · Source version: HDR 2025 · Collected on: 2026-10-26 · License: CC-BY-3.0-IGO
Download data (CSV) · View the code: collection code · chart.ts
View the data as a table
| Year | Brazil | Argentina | Chile | Colombia | Mexico |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 3.7 | 8.1 | 8.4 | 6.3 | 5.9 |
| 1991 | 3.8 | 8.2 | 8.5 | 6.4 | 6.0 |
| 1992 | 4.0 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 6.4 | 6.1 |
| 1993 | 4.1 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 6.5 | 6.2 |
| 1994 | 4.3 | 8.4 | 8.7 | 6.6 | 6.2 |
| 1995 | 4.4 | 8.5 | 8.8 | 6.6 | 6.3 |
| 1996 | 4.6 | 8.5 | 8.9 | 6.7 | 6.4 |
| 1997 | 4.8 | 8.6 | 8.9 | 6.7 | 6.4 |
| 1998 | 4.9 | 8.7 | 9.0 | 6.8 | 6.5 |
| 1999 | 5.1 | 8.7 | 9.1 | 6.8 | 6.6 |
| 2000 | 5.3 | 8.8 | 9.1 | 6.9 | 6.7 |
| 2001 | 5.4 | 8.9 | 9.3 | 6.9 | 6.8 |
| 2002 | 5.6 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| 2003 | 5.8 | 9.9 | 9.6 | 7.0 | 7.1 |
| 2004 | 6.0 | 10.0 | 9.7 | 7.1 | 7.3 |
| 2005 | 6.2 | 10.1 | 9.7 | 7.3 | 7.5 |
| 2006 | 6.3 | 10.2 | 9.8 | 6.8 | 7.9 |
| 2007 | 6.5 | 10.3 | 9.8 | 7.2 | 7.9 |
| 2008 | 6.7 | 10.4 | 10.1 | 7.3 | 7.9 |
| 2009 | 6.8 | 10.5 | 10.0 | 7.3 | 8.1 |
| 2010 | 6.9 | 10.6 | 9.9 | 7.4 | 8.0 |
| 2011 | 7.0 | 10.7 | 9.5 | 7.5 | 8.3 |
| 2012 | 7.2 | 10.8 | 9.8 | 7.6 | 8.5 |
| 2013 | 7.3 | 10.9 | 10.0 | 7.8 | 8.4 |
| 2014 | 7.4 | 10.9 | 10.1 | 8.0 | 8.4 |
| 2015 | 7.5 | 10.9 | 10.3 | 8.1 | 8.6 |
| 2016 | 7.7 | 10.9 | 10.4 | 8.2 | 8.6 |
| 2017 | 7.8 | 11.0 | 10.6 | 8.4 | 8.7 |
| 2018 | 8.0 | 11.1 | 10.8 | 8.5 | 8.9 |
| 2019 | 8.1 | 11.1 | 10.9 | 8.6 | 9.1 |
| 2020 | 8.3 | 11.1 | 11.1 | 8.9 | 9.2 |
| 2021 | 8.4 | 11.2 | 11.3 | 9.0 | 9.3 |
| 2022 | 8.4 | 11.2 | 11.3 | 9.0 | 9.3 |
| 2023 | 8.4 | 11.2 | 11.3 | 9.0 | 9.3 |
Criticisms of the metric
- It moves slowly by construction: the series for adults aged 25 and over mixes cohorts, so recent policy changes barely show up in it.
- It counts years attended, not learning achieved, and does not distinguish school quality.
References
- UNDP. Human Development Report 2025 — Technical notes. https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/documentation-and-downloads