EDUCATION INDICATORS: An International Perspective

Indicator 12: Upper Secondary Education Attainment

Completion of at least an upper secondary level of education*roughly equivalent to completing high school in the United Statesprovides an indirect measure of a nation's total supply of citizens with specific educational knowledge and skills and, hence, some indication of the country's capacity for sustained economic growth and competitiveness. Reporting the education attainment levels of different age cohorts provides some indication of how a country's educational opportunities have expanded over time.

• Of the G-7 countries compared in 1992, the United States, Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom each reported that more than 75 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds had completed at least an upper secondary level of education. Italy was the only G-7 country reported in which fewer than 50 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds had completed at least an upper secondary level of education.

• The percentage of adults having completed at least an upper secondary level of education generally increased with each successively younger age cohort. However, the magnitude of the increase differed across countries. Of the G-7 countries compared, the difference between the youngest and oldest age groups ranged from 14 percentage points in the United States to 38 percentage points in France.
  Of the remaining countries, Finland had the largest difference (51 percentage points) and New Zealand had the smallest (11 percentage points).

• In addition, the absolute levels of education attainment differed considerably across countries, particularly among the older age groups. Excluding Portugal and Turkey, there was more variation in upper secondary education attainment across countries at ages 55-64 than at ages 25-34. For instance, in the United States, upper secondary attainment for 55- to 64-year-olds was 73 percentthe highest attainment rate for this age cohort among all the countries reported. Within the G-7 countries reported, Italy had the lowest upper secondary education attainment for 55- to 64-year-olds, 12 percent. Thus, the difference in attainment between these two countries at ages 55-64 was 61 percentage points, and the difference at ages 25-34 was 45 percentage points.

*For further explanation of the levels of education, see the sidebar entitled ISCED levels of education.

Table 12: Percentage of the population within various age groups having attained at least an upper secondary level of education, by country: 1992

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			Age group
Country	       25-34   35-44   45-54   55-64
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G-71
Canada		81	78	66	49
France		67 	57	47	29
Germany		89 	87	81	69
Italy		42 	35	21	12
United Kingdom	81 	71	62	51
United States	87 	88	83	73
Other
Australia2	57 	56	51	42
Austria		79 	71	65	50
Belgium		60 	52	38	24
Czechoslovakia3	87	79	68	51
Denmark		67 	61	58	45
Finland		82 	69	52	31
Ireland		56 	44	35	25
Netherlands	68 	61	52	42
New Zealand	60 	58	55	49
Norway		88 	83	75	61
Portugal3       21      17      10       7
Spain           41      24      14       8
Sweden		83 	76	65	48
Switzerland	87 	84	78	70
Turkey          21      14       9       5
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1/ No data available for Japan.
2/ 1993 data.
3/1991 data.

NOTE: See supplemental note to Indicator 11 for details on indicator calculation for Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Center for Educational Research and Innovation, International Indicators Project, 1995.

Figure 12: Percentage of the population within various age groups having completed at least an upper secondary level of education, by G-7 country:* 1992

*No data available for Japan.

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Center for Educational Research and Innovation, International Indicators Project, 1995.

See supplemental notes to Indicator 11.

[Indicator 11]

[Indicator 13]