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Digest of Education Statistics
2012 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 469. Percentage of the population 25 to 64 years old who attained a bachelor's or higher level degree, by age group and country: Selected years, 1999 through 2010
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Country 1999 2001 2003 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Total,
25 to 64
years old
25 to 34
years old
Total,
25 to 64
years old
25 to 34
years old
Total,
25 to 64
years old
25 to 34
years old
Total,
25 to 64
years old
25 to 34
years old
Total,
25 to 64
years old
25 to 34
years old
Total,
25 to 64
years old
25 to 34
years old
Total,
25 to 64
years old
25 to 34
years old
Total,
25 to 64
years old
25 to 34
years old
Total,
25 to 64
years old
25 to 34
years old
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
OECD average1  14.0 16.5 15.1 18.2 16.9 21.0 18.8 23.9 19.5 24.6 20.0 25.4 20.8 26.6 21.4 (0.03) 27.7 (0.08) 22.0 (0.04) 28.5 (0.09)
Australia 17.7 20.1 19.2 23.9 20.5 24.9 22.7 29.2 23.8 29.2 24.1 30.6 25.5 31.9 26.8 (0.29) 34.6 (0.62) 26.9 (0.41) 34.2 (0.81)
Austria2 6.1 6.8 6.8 6.9 7.3 8.4 9.1 11.6 10.1 12.9 10.4 13.3 10.7 13.5 11.4 (0.10) 15.3 (0.25) 12.0 (0.25) 15.4 (0.49)
Belgium 12.0 16.0 12.7 17.8 13.0 18.2 13.8 19.1 14.1 19.4 14.0 18.2 16.4 22.8 17.5 (0.16) 24.2 (0.38) 17.2 (0.16) 23.3 (0.37)
Canada 19.1 23.1 20.4 25.1 22.0 27.5 23.3 28.2 24.0 29.3 24.6 29.5 25.2 29.8 25.4 (0.16) 30.1 (0.34) 26.4 (0.22) 30.7 (0.42)
Chile2,3 8.2 9.6 9.0 10.7 11.9 15.5 15.7 22.3 16.4 (0.15) 24.0 (0.30) 16.5 (0.15) 25.4 (0.30)
                                             
Czech Republic4 10.8 10.9 11.1 11.3 11.7 11.7 13.1 14.2 13.5 15.2 13.7 15.5 14.5 17.7 15.5 (0.10) 20.2 (0.23) 16.8 (0.10) 22.6 (0.25)
Denmark 21.5 21.7 25.0 27.2 26.0 30.7 27.1 31.7 25.5 32.0 27.5 34.9 27.1 (0.18) 36.2 (0.60) 27.0 (0.17) 31.4 (0.48)
Estonia 22.2 24.1 22.2 24.1 22.2 25.2 22.3 23.5 22.7 (0.41) 21.7 (0.87) 21.9 (0.71) 23.8 (1.59)
Finland 13.9 15.6 14.8 18.0 16.4 23.1 18.1 26.6 19.2 29.4 20.9 31.8 21.5 32.9 22.6 (0.13) 36.0 (0.34) 23.5 (0.21) 36.7 (0.52)
France 11.0 15.3 11.9 17.5 14.2 21.9 14.8 22.3 15.6 23.7 15.9 23.8 16.4 23.7 17.3 (0.08) 25.7 (0.20) 17.5 (0.08) 26.0 (0.19)
                                             
Germany 13.0 12.9 13.5 13.5 14.1 14.0 14.8 15.1 15.1 15.1 15.6 16.1 16.4 17.5 17.1 (0.06) 18.9 (0.14) 17.0 (0.07) 18.9 (0.16)
Greece 12.2 16.6 12.4 16.6 12.6 16.5 14.5 17.0 15.1 17.7 15.4 18.7 16.8 18.6 16.9 (0.09) 19.3 (0.21) 17.5 (0.29) 20.0 (0.51)
Hungary5 13.5 13.7 14.1 14.7 15.3 16.6 16.9 19.1 17.4 20.1 17.7 21.1 18.7 22.9 19.4 (0.10) 24.1 (0.23) 19.6 (0.10) 24.7 (0.24)
Iceland 17.8 22.3 18.8 21.1 25.9 32.5 25.6 28.5 26.1 27.9 27.9 30.6 28.8 (0.48) 33.4 (0.96) 28.7 (0.48) 34.0 (0.98)
Ireland2 10.6 16.1 14.0 19.8 16.3 23.0 18.4 26.2 19.9 28.2 21.1 29.9 22.2 30.6 20.9 (0.11) 28.8 (0.23) 21.8 (0.11) 29.7 (0.24)
                                             
Israel 27.0 27.2 29.8 34.8 29.8 34.8 28.3 28.1 28.8 28.9 29.4 (0.18) 29.5 (0.35) 30.5 (0.18) 31.8 (0.35)
Italy5 9.3 10.0 10.0 11.8 11.7 15.5 12.4 16.7 13.0 18.3 14.0 19.6 14.1 (0.06) 19.9 (0.15) 14.4 (0.07) 20.5 (0.19)
Japan 18.3 23.0 19.2 24.3 20.9 26.4 22.3 27.9 23.0 29.7 23.1 29.0 24.3 30.9 24.6 (0.11) 31.8 (0.27) 25.3 (0.18) 33.0 (0.38)
Korea, Republic of 16.9 23.2 17.5 25.0 21.7 29.9 22.7 31.7 23.5 32.9 24.4 33.9 25.6 34.5 27.1 (0.23) 37.6 (0.47) 27.5 (0.23) 39.0 (0.47)
Luxembourg 11.7 13.1 11.4 15.1 17.0 23.8 16.4 22.7 17.7 23.8 20.0 27.9 20.2 (0.39) 24.1 (0.93) 20.8 (0.39) 26.1 (0.96)
                                             
Mexico 11.9 14.1 13.3 15.3 13.6 16.0 13.8 17.0 14.4 17.5 14.9 18.4 14.9 18.5 15.9 (0.05) 20.2 (0.10) 16.2 (0.00) 20.6 (0.00)
Netherlands 20.1 22.7 20.9 24.1 28.3 33.8 28.4 34.3 29.1 35.1 29.8 37.5 30.0 (0.09) 37.6 (0.22) 29.8 (0.10) 38.4 (0.23)
New Zealand 13.1 15.6 13.9 16.9 16.1 20.7 19.7 26.2 23.0 29.8 25.3 33.0 25.1 33.6 23.2 (0.41) 30.8 (0.96) 24.3 (0.36) 31.5 (0.83)
Norway2 25.3 30.6 27.6 35.4 28.5 37.4 30.3 38.9 30.5 39.8 31.9 40.8 33.6 43.8 34.5 (0.20) 45.5 (0.45) 35.2 (0.20) 46.2 (0.45)
Poland2,4 11.3 12.3 11.9 15.2 14.2 20.4 16.9 25.5 17.9 28.0 18.7 30.0 19.6 32.1 21.2 (0.12) 35.4 (0.29) 22.9 (0.09) 37.4 (0.21)
                                             
Portugal6 7.1 9.3 6.6 10.6 8.4 13.2 12.8 19.1 13.5 20.0 13.7 21.4 14.3 23.2 14.7 (0.12) 23.3 (0.32) 15.4 (0.51) 24.8 (1.02)
Slovak Republic 10.3 11.2 11.2 12.6 12.8 15.4 13.3 15.7 13.3 16.8 14.0 17.8 15.0 (0.15) 19.7 (0.34) 16.6 (0.16) 23.5 (0.28)
Slovenia 10.6 15.2 10.6 15.2 11.7 17.6 11.8 18.4 12.6 (0.17) 18.7 (0.42) 13.1 (0.17) 19.2 (0.43)
Spain 14.8 22.1 16.9 23.9 17.9 25.8 19.9 27.0 19.8 26.0 20.0 26.0 20.0 25.7 20.1 (0.07) 25.0 (0.15) 21.5 (0.07) 26.9 (0.15)
Sweden 13.1 11.1 16.9 19.7 18.5 23.8 20.6 28.4 21.7 30.6 22.6 31.5 23.4 32.4 24.3 (0.11) 33.9 (0.26) 25.4 (0.10) 34.0 (0.22)
                                             
Switzerland 14.5 16.6 15.8 15.9 17.5 19.6 19.0 21.9 19.9 23.2 21.3 25.6 23.3 28.8 24.7 (0.24) 30.5 (0.56) 24.3 (0.15) 30.6 (0.37)
Turkey4 7.1 7.6 8.9 10.2 9.7 11.4 9.7 11.8 10.4 12.8 10.8 13.6 12.0 15.5 12.7 (0.07) 16.6 (0.13) 13.1 (0.07) 17.4 (0.13)
United Kingdom 16.6 18.8 18.0 21.0 19.3 24.2 20.8 26.9 21.7 28.6 22.7 29.4 23.6 30.7 26.9 (0.09) 36.3 (0.21) 28.0 (0.19) 37.9 (0.45)
United States 27.5 28.7 28.3 29.9 29.4 30.0 29.6 30.3 29.9 29.9 30.9 31.0 31.5 32.3 31.4 (0.16) 32.1 (0.32) 31.7 (0.22) 32.8 (0.36)
                                             
Other reporting                                            
countries                                            
Brazil2,4 7.5 6.5 7.6 6.6 9.6 10.0 10.8 11.0 10.9 (0.07) 11.6 (0.12) (†) (†)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
1 Refers to the mean of the data values for all reporting Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, to which each country reporting data contributes equally. The average includes all current OECD countries for which a given year's data are available, even if they were not members of OECD in that year.
2 Data from 1998 reported for 1999.
3 Data from 2000 reported for 2001.
4 Data include vocational degrees.
5 Data for 1999 to 2003 include vocational degrees.
6 Data for 2005 to 2010 include vocational degrees.
NOTE: Data in this table refer to degrees classified as International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) level 5A (first and second award) and as level 6. ISCED 5A, first award, corresponds to the bachelor's degree in the United States; ISCED 5A, second award, corresponds to master's and first-professional degrees in the United States; and ISCED 6 corresponds to doctor's degrees. Standard errors are not available for years prior to 2009.
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Education at a Glance, 2001 through 2012. (This table was prepared June 2012.)

2012 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest