The Nordic and Baltic countries have a high proportion of their population with tertiary education, and women are overall the most highly educated.
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When it comes to competing for the best jobs and resources, education has always been a key component of our success.
Available data show that the proportion of European adults with the highest levels of tertiary education varies considerably across the continent.
On average, almost a third of adults aged 25-74 in the European Union have a tertiary education degree from public and private universities, colleges, technical training institutes or vocational schools.
Educational levels also vary by age and gender.
So which European countries have the highest rates of tertiary education, how do education levels vary across Europe, and which countries place a stronger emphasis on vocational education? Euronews Next has analysed the data.
How is education level defined?
Education level is defined as low (less than high school), medium (high school), or high (college).
The European data agency Eurostat's classification is based on the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) and refers to:
Low: Pre-primary, primary and lower secondary education (ISCED levels 0-2)
Secondary education: upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED levels 3 and 4).
• Higher education: Tertiary education (ISCED levels 5-8), including public and private universities, junior colleges, technical training institutes and vocational schools.
In 2022, 31.8% of the EU's population aged 25-74 will have received tertiary education, ranging from 17.4% in Romania to 49.8% in Ireland.
Nordic and Baltic countries produce more graduates than the EU average
The Nordic and Baltic countries have a higher proportion of people with tertiary education than the EU average: Sweden and Norway rank third and fourth respectively, with a tertiary-education rate of over 45%.
44% of Latvia's population has a tertiary education degree, a figure that is higher than the EU average in other Nordic and Baltic countries.
In the UK, 43.5% of the population aged 25-74 have a tertiary education, more than any of the EU's “big four” countries, with France having the highest proportion (38.2%) and Spain (38%).
After Romania, Italy has the lowest proportion of people with tertiary education, at 18.5%, slightly below Germany and the EU average (31.5%).
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The proportion of people with low education exceeds 40% in four EU countries.
The EU candidate countries had a significantly lower proportion of their population with tertiary education.
Turkey has by far the highest proportion of its population with low education, with two-thirds (61.8%) having less than upper secondary education.
The figure was also below 40% in four EU countries: Portugal, Italy, Malta and Spain.
Career aspirations play an important role in some countries
Breaking down secondary education attainment, which consists of general education and vocational education, some countries have a significantly higher share of vocational education.
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The proportion of people with vocational aspirations at secondary education level is above 45% in nine EU countries, including the Czech Republic (63.9), Poland (52.2) and Germany (47.4).
Young people receive higher levels of education
Across Europe, young people are seeing a large increase in the proportion of those completing tertiary education.
It also gives an indication of how countries have fared in recent decades, with the levels of the 25-34 age group being analysed primarily by international organisations.
More than two-fifths of the EU population has a higher education
By 2022, 42% of the EU population aged 25-34 will have a tertiary degree. The figures vary from 24.7% in Romania to 62.3% in Ireland.
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In contrast to the 25-74 age group, the Nordic countries Finland and Iceland had a lower proportion of people with tertiary education than the EU average.
The figure is above 50% in a third of EU member states, and 10 of those states are below the EU's target of 45% by 2030.
Women are more educated than men
In 35 European countries where data are available, a higher proportion of women aged 25-34 have completed tertiary education than men.
In 2022, the average percentage of women with tertiary education was 47.6%, compared to 36.5% for men.
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With the exception of Finland, the gender gap was significantly more in favour of women in the Nordic and Baltic countries, with the largest gaps recorded in Iceland (25.4 percentage points, pp), Slovenia (23.8pp) and Slovakia (22.8pp).
Turkey (1.3 percentage points), Switzerland (3.6 percentage points) and Germany (4.6 percentage points) had the smallest gaps, showing that the proportion of women and men with tertiary education was very close.
The proportion of the population with higher education is increasing
In the EU, the proportion of people aged 25-74 with tertiary education is continuously increasing, from 19.1% in 2004 to 31.8% in 2022.
Lifelong Learning: Adults in Education
Lifelong learning is also important when people need to update their skills. This is also known as adult learning, which means participation in education and training for adults.
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According to Eurostat, it includes all purposeful learning activities, whether formal, non-formal or informal.
The aim is to improve the knowledge, skills and capabilities of participants. Adult learning is a key aspect when it comes to the digitalization and automation of the labor market.
In 2022, the proportion of people aged 25 to 64 in the EU who took part in education or training in the past four weeks was 11.9%, compared to 1.7% in Bulgaria and 36.2% in Sweden.
While the Nordic countries had a high proportion of adult learning, the Balkans had a significantly lower proportion than the EU average.
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