New Zealanders spend an average of 19.7 years in education, including 4.1 years in tertiary education according to information from the” Ministry of Education.

In a survey of 27 OECD countries, based on 2007 data, New Zealanders spent much longer than average on education than citizens of other OECD countries. The OECD country mean was 17.6 years. Overall, New Zealanders have the 6th highest expected number of years in education on average, at 19.7 years, an increase of 2.5 years from 1999. New Zealanders spend more years in education than the United States and Ireland, but spend 0.9 years less than Australia. Finland has the highest expected number of years in education in the OECD.

New Zealand’s overall average is strengthened by our relatively high participation in tertiary education. On average New Zealanders spend 4.1 years in tertiary education, compared to the average in OECD countries of 3.1 years. This ranks New Zealand fifth highest out of OECD countries. This measure is influenced by both the entry and participation rates in tertiary education and the typical duration of study. The rising average age of New Zealand’s tertiary population also suggests that more people are spreading their total education over a longer time span, as well as doing more study on a part-time basis.

The data also shows that, in the majority of countries, females can expect to spend more time in education than males. In New Zealand, females can expect to spend an additional one year in education overall.