List of countries by tertiary education attainment

Last updated February 20, 2025

This is a list of countries by the proportions of 25- to 64-year-olds having completed tertiary education as published by the OECD. It includes some non-OECD nations.

Tertiary education is the educational level following the completion of a school providing a secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including universities as well as institutions that teach specific capacities of higher learning such as colleges, technical training institutes, community colleges, nursing schools, research laboratories, centers of excellence, and distance learning centers.^[1]

2019 OECD data

This list includes non-OECD member countries: Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa.^[2]

Country	Age 25–64 (%)	Age				Year	Non-OECD
Country	Age 25–64 (%)	25–34 (%)	35–44 (%)	45–54 (%)	55–64 (%)	Year	Non-OECD
Australia	42	48	46	38	33	2014
Austria	30	38	33	27	21	2014
Belgium	37	44	42	34	26	2014
Brazil	14	15	14	14	11	2013
Canada	54	58	61	51	45	2014
Chile	36	38	34	28	26	2014
China	17	27	15	7	2	2018
Colombia	22	28	23	18	16	2014
Costa Rica	18	21	19	17	17	2014
Czech Republic	22	30	21	20	16	2014
Denmark	36	42	41	33	29	2014
Estonia	38	40	39	35	36	2014
Finland	42	40	50	44	34	2014
France	32	44	39	26	20	2013
Germany	27	28	29	26	25	2014
Greece	28	39	27	26	21	2014
Hungary	23	32	25	20	17	2014
Iceland	37	41	42	36	29	2014
Indonesia	12	16	9	8	4	2018	^[3]
Ireland	41	51	49	34	24	2014
Israel	49	46	53	48	47	2014
Italy	17	24	19	13	12	2014
Japan	48	59	53	47	35	2014
Latvia	30	39	31	27	23	2014
Lithuania	37	53	38	30	28	2014
Luxembourg	46	53	56	40	32	2014
Mexico	19	25	17	16	13	2014
Netherlands	34	44	38	30	27	2014
New Zealand	36	40	41	32	29	2014
Norway	42	49	49	36	32	2014
Poland	27	43	32	18	14	2014
Portugal	22	31	26	17	13	2014
Russia	54	58	55	53	50	2013
Saudi Arabia	22	26	22	18	14	2013
Slovakia	20	30	21	15	14	2014
Slovenia	29	38	35	24	18	2014
South Africa	7	5	7	8	7	2012
South Korea	45	68	56	33	17	2014
Spain	35	41	43	30	21	2014
Sweden	39	46	46	32	30	2014
Switzerland	40	46	45	38	31	2014
Turkey	17	25	16	10	10	2014
Taiwan ^[4]	45	X	X	X	X	2015
United Kingdom	42	49	46	38	35	2014
United States	44	46	47	43	41	2014

Countries by level of tertiary education

This is a list of countries by the level of tertiary education completed by 25–64 year olds as of the year 2022.^[5]

	Short-cycle tertiary	Bachelor's or equivalent	Master's or equivalent	Doctoral or equivalent	Total
Australia	12	29	9	2	51
Austria	15	6	14	1	36
Belgium	1	25	19	1	46
Canada	26	24	12		63
Chile	10	19	2		31
Colombia		28			28
Costa Rica	7	16	3		25
Czech Republic	0	7	19	1	27
Denmark	5	21	15	2	42
Estonia	6	15	21	1	42
Finland	8	18	16	1	43
France	14	12	14	1	42
Germany	1	18	12	2	33
Greece	0	25	8	1	35
Hungary	1	15	13	0	29
Iceland	4	21	17	1	44
Ireland	10	28	15	2	54
Israel	11	24	14	1	51
Italy	0	6	14	1	20
Japan	21	35			56
Korea	15	34	4		53
Latvia	4	17	18	0	39
Lithuania		30	16	1	47
Luxembourg	5	15	29	3	51
Mexico	1	18	2	0	21
Netherlands	2	24	17	1	45
New Zealand	4	30	5	1	40
Norway	12	21	14	1	48
Poland	0	8	25	1	34
Portugal	0	10	21	1	31
Slovak Republic	0	4	24	1	29
Slovenia	8	12	16	4	40
Spain	13	11	16	1	41
Sweden	10	20	17	2	49
Switzerland		25	17	3	45
Türkiye	7	16	2	0	25
United Kingdom	9	26	14	2	51
United States	11	25	12	2	50

Notes

↑ "Tertiary Education (Higher Education)". The World Bank.
↑ "OECD.Stat Education and Training > Education at a Glance > Educational attainment and labor-force status > Educational attainment of 25-64 year-olds". OECD.
↑ "Education at a Glance Indonesia" (PDF). OECD.
↑ "Higher Education Crisis in Taiwan | The World View".
↑ "Home". 12 September 2023.

References

Brick, Jean (2006). "What is academic culture?". Academic Culture: A Student's Guide to Studying at University. Sydney, N.S.W: National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research. pp. 1–10. ISBN 978-1-74138-135-1.

External links

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[1] "Tertiary Education (Higher Education)". The World Bank.

[2] "OECD.Stat Education and Training > Education at a Glance > Educational attainment and labor-force status > Educational attainment of 25-64 year-olds". OECD.

[3] "Education at a Glance Indonesia" (PDF). OECD.

[4] "Higher Education Crisis in Taiwan | The World View".

[5] "Home". 12 September 2023.

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