Population with tertiary education — all countries

Population with tertiary education — Western Europe

Population with tertiary education in Western Europe in 2023 — 29.85%. Since 2014, the indicator has risen by 7.7 pp.

2023 29.85% +0.85 pp vs 2022
World rank
Period maximum 29.85%2023
Period minimum 22.15%2014

Trend over time

2014–2023 · % of population aged 25+

Population with tertiary education — Western Europe, 2014–2023222426283020142015201620172018201920202021202220232014: 22.15%2015: 23.03%2016: 23.42%2017: 24.25%2018: 24.31%2019: 25.77%2020: 26.81%2021: 28.05%2022: 29%2023: 29.85%
Change over the period: +7.7 pp Annual average: 0.86 pp
Population with tertiary education — Western Europe, by year Western Europe All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2023 29.85 +0.85 pp
2022 29 +0.95 pp
2021 28.05 +1.24 pp
2020 26.81 +1.04 pp
2019 25.77 +1.46 pp
2018 24.31 +0.06 pp
2017 24.25 +0.83 pp
2016 23.42 +0.39 pp
2015 23.03 +0.88 pp
2014 22.15

About the indicator

The share of the population aged 25 and older that has completed education at the bachelor's level or above. It differs fundamentally from tertiary enrollment: enrollment counts current students, while this indicator is the accumulated result of past decades, so it changes slowly and reflects not the policy of today but the state of the system twenty or thirty years ago.

Important: An accumulated stock, not the current flow: a country whose tertiary enrollment has grown quickly will keep catching up on this indicator for another generation.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), license CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.