Education > Average years of schooling of adults: Countries Compared

The US has a partial school year with several lengthy vacations and many days off school. When tallying the days children in the US are in the classroom, it amounts to less than 1/2 of a year. Our school years are actually 6, not 12. Please make adjustments to these 'statistics'.

I suspect the figures are correct.

Can you kindly include also the following countries United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia as these countries are potential candidates for foreign investments. Thank you.

Thanks for the helpful and extremely clear, easy-to-understand data! Here's an updated link to the underlying Barro-Lee data-set. http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTEDUCATION/EXTDATASTATISTICS/EXTEDSTATS/0,,contentMDK:21218180~menuPK:4324130~pagePK:64168445~piPK:64168309~theSitePK:3232764,00.html.

The link to the data source does not work. Does anyone else know where I can find this information?

A comment to Norm, 09-08-31: if adults (over 15 years old) of a country have an average of 12 years of schooling, it means that if the started school when they were 6 years old, the average citizen has been in school until 18 years old. This variable TYR (total years of schooling) is one of the most important variables to measure the opportunities for development. Usually countries with low levels of this variable do not perform well for several reasons explained in many economic studies. The highest priority of the MDGs (Millenium Development Goals) should be, in my view as economist, to foster international cooperatio to improve education and to increase TYR in the poorest countries. Our Association publishes a blog with some international graphs in this regard: http://euroamericanassociation.blogspot.com

I don't understand these stats. The definition "is years of formal schooling, on average, by adults over age 15." So in the US the average person goes to school until age 27. So the average person graduates from high school at age 18. They do undergraduate or trade school or equivalent for 4 years until age 22 or 23. This leaves 5 years. This would mean that the average person (50% of the population has more and 50% has less) has been in school long enough to get a Phd or some educational equivalent. I know the US has a lot of lawyers but really, that many?

I find Nation Master's data very easy to understand. Try to visit World Bank's statistics and come back. Compared to WB's pages this is really easy stuff. Great pages, thanks!