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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 468. Percentage of the population 25 to 64 years old who attained selected levels of postsecondary education, by age group and country: 2001 and 2010
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Country Total, any postsecondary degree 2010
2001 2010 Vocational degree1 Bachelor's or higher degree2
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
35 to 44
years old
45 to 54
years old
55 to 64
years old
Total, 25 to 64
years old
25 to 34
years old
35 to 44
years old
45 to 54
years old
55 to 64
years old
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
OECD average3  22.6 27.3 30.7 (0.05) 37.8 (0.10) 10.2 (0.03) 10.9 (0.07) 11.7 (0.07) 10.1 (0.07) 8.5 (0.07) 22.0 (0.04) 28.5 (0.09) 23.6 (0.08) 18.9 (0.08) 15.9 (0.08)
Australia 29.0 33.5 37.6 (0.45) 44.4 (0.85) 10.7 (0.29) 10.2 (0.52) 11.2 (0.55) 11.0 (0.58) 10.1 (0.69) 26.9 (0.41) 34.2 (0.81) 28.4 (0.79) 23.8 (0.79) 19.5 (0.90)
Austria 14.1 14.3 19.3 (0.26) 20.8 (0.54) 7.3 (0.19) 5.4 (0.29) 7.4 (0.32) 8.2 (0.28) 8.1 (0.44) 12.0 (0.25) 15.4 (0.49) 13.4 (0.39) 10.4 (0.40) 8.4 (0.43)
Belgium 27.6 37.5 35.0 (0.20) 43.8 (0.44) 17.8 (0.16) 20.5 (0.36) 19.9 (0.32) 16.4 (0.29) 14.1 (0.29) 17.2 (0.16) 23.3 (0.37) 19.5 (0.32) 14.5 (0.28) 11.5 (0.27)
Canada 41.6 50.5 50.6 (0.23) 56.5 (0.43) 24.2 (0.17) 25.8 (0.38) 26.1 (0.30) 24.1 (0.26) 20.4 (0.28) 26.4 (0.22) 30.7 (0.42) 30.7 (0.38) 22.7 (0.32) 21.8 (0.34)
Chile4 10.1 12.3 26.8 (0.18) 38.5 (0.34) 10.3 (0.13) 13.1 (0.23) 12.8 (0.22) 9.3 (0.20) 4.9 (0.18) 16.5 (0.15) 25.4 (0.30) 14.7 (0.23) 12.1 (0.22) 14.0 (0.28)
                                                     
Czech Republic5 11.1 11.3 16.8 (0.10) 22.6 (0.25) [5] (†) [5] (†) [5] (†) [5] (†) [5] (†) 16.8 (0.10) 22.6 (0.25) 16.3 (0.21) 15.9 (0.21) 11.5 (0.16)
Denmark 26.8 27.5 33.3 (0.19) 37.6 (0.50) 6.3 (0.10) 6.2 (0.25) 7.1 (0.22) 6.5 (0.18) 5.2 (0.15) 27.0 (0.17) 31.4 (0.48) 29.7 (0.39) 24.7 (0.31) 22.7 (0.28)
Estonia 35.3 (0.79) 37.8 (1.73) 13.3 (0.55) 14.0 (1.24) 12.2 (0.91) 15.1 (1.07) 11.7 (1.02) 21.9 (0.71) 23.8 (1.59) 21.0 (1.34) 23.4 (1.30) 18.9 (1.29)
Finland 32.3 38.2 38.1 (0.24) 39.2 (0.52) 14.7 (0.18) 2.5 (0.17) 18.4 (0.42) 20.7 (0.40) 16.2 (0.35) 23.5 (0.21) 36.7 (0.52) 27.3 (0.48) 18.3 (0.39) 13.8 (0.32)
France 23.0 34.2 29.0 (0.09) 42.9 (0.21) 11.5 (0.06) 16.9 (0.16) 13.7 (0.13) 9.1 (0.11) 6.4 (0.09) 17.5 (0.08) 26.0 (0.19) 20.0 (0.16) 12.6 (0.13) 11.9 (0.12)
                                                     
Germany 23.2 21.8 26.6 (0.08) 26.1 (0.19) 9.6 (0.05) 7.2 (0.10) 9.9 (0.11) 10.9 (0.11) 9.9 (0.12) 17.0 (0.07) 18.9 (0.16) 18.2 (0.14) 15.7 (0.13) 15.5 (0.14)
Greece 17.8 24.0 24.6 (0.33) 30.9 (0.59) 7.2 (0.16) 10.9 (0.34) 8.1 (0.31) 5.8 (0.28) 3.2 (0.22) 17.5 (0.29) 20.0 (0.51) 18.4 (0.49) 17.4 (0.49) 13.3 (0.43)
Hungary 14.1 14.7 20.1 (0.10) 26.0 (0.24) 0.6 (0.02) 1.4 (0.06) (†) (†) (†) 19.6 (0.10) 24.7 (0.24) 18.6 (0.20) 18.1 (0.19) 16.4 (0.18)
Iceland 24.8 26.6 32.5 (0.50) 36.2 (0.99) 3.8 (0.20) 2.2 (0.30) 5.6 (0.51) 4.2 (0.40) 3.2 (0.39) 28.7 (0.48) 34.0 (0.98) 33.2 (1.04) 26.3 (0.89) 19.3 (0.87)
Ireland 35.6 47.8 37.3 (0.13) 48.2 (0.26) 15.6 (0.10) 18.4 (0.20) 18.4 (0.20) 13.0 (0.19) 9.9 (0.19) 21.8 (0.11) 29.7 (0.24) 23.9 (0.22) 16.8 (0.21) 11.6 (0.20)
                                                     
Israel 45.6 (0.20) 44.2 (0.38) 15.0 (0.14) 12.4 (0.25) 15.9 (0.29) 16.1 (0.30) 17.0 (0.32) 30.5 (0.18) 31.8 (0.35) 33.0 (0.37) 28.3 (0.37) 27.6 (0.38)
Italy 10.0 11.8 14.8 (0.07) 20.7 (0.19) # (†) # (†) # (†) 0.5 (†) # (†) 14.4 (0.07) 20.5 (0.19) 15.3 (0.15) 11.5 (0.14) 10.3 (0.14)
Japan 33.8 47.7 44.8 (0.20) 56.7 (0.40) 19.5 (0.16) 23.7 (0.34) 23.6 (0.32) 19.6 (0.32) 11.6 (0.30) 25.3 (0.18) 33.0 (0.38) 26.0 (0.33) 26.2 (0.36) 17.4 (0.35)
Korea, Republic of 24.2 39.5 39.7 (0.25) 65.0 (0.46) 12.2 (0.17) 26.0 (0.43) 13.0 (0.31) 5.7 (0.22) 1.5 (0.16) 27.5 (0.23) 39.0 (0.47) 33.8 (0.44) 21.0 (0.40) 11.2 (0.40)
Luxembourg 18.1 23.4 35.5 (0.46) 44.2 (1.08) 14.7 (0.34) 18.1 (0.84) 16.8 (0.67) 12.2 (0.58) 10.7 (0.64) 20.8 (0.39) 26.1 (0.96) 24.7 (0.77) 15.8 (0.65) 14.6 (0.73)
                                                     
Mexico5 15.0 17.9 17.4 (0.00) 21.8 (0.00) 1.1 (0.00) 1.3 (0.00) 1.1 (0.00) 1.3 (0.00) 0.7 (0.00) 16.2 (0.00) 20.6 (0.00) 15.1 (0.00) 15.0 (0.00) 11.3 (0.00)
Netherlands 23.2 26.5 32.4 (0.10) 40.8 (0.23) 2.5 (0.03) 2.4 (0.07) 2.9 (0.07) 2.7 (0.06) 2.1 (0.06) 29.8 (0.10) 38.4 (0.23) 30.7 (0.19) 27.4 (0.17) 23.9 (0.18)
New Zealand 29.2 28.5 40.7 (0.41) 46.4 (0.89) 16.4 (0.31) 14.9 (0.64) 15.5 (0.58) 17.9 (0.60) 17.2 (0.65) 24.3 (0.36) 31.5 (0.83) 27.0 (0.71) 21.1 (0.64) 16.6 (0.64)
Norway 30.2 37.9 37.3 (0.20) 47.3 (0.45) 2.1 (0.06) 1.0 (0.09) 2.0 (0.11) 2.7 (0.13) 2.7 (0.14) 35.2 (0.20) 46.2 (0.45) 39.0 (0.38) 30.7 (0.38) 24.6 (0.36)
Poland5 11.9 15.2 22.9 (0.09) 37.4 (0.21) [5] (†) [5] (†) [5] (†) [5] (†) [5] (†) 22.9 (0.09) 37.4 (0.21) 23.4 (0.19) 15.1 (0.15) 12.9 (0.14)
                                                     
Portugal5 9.0 13.7 15.4 (0.51) 24.8 (1.02) [5] (†) [5] (†) [5] (†) [5] (†) [5] (†) 15.4 (0.51) 24.8 (1.02) 16.2 (0.80) 10.4 (0.69) 8.9 (0.56)
Slovak Republic 10.9 11.9 17.3 (0.16) 24.0 (0.29) 0.7 (0.04) 0.6 (0.05) 0.6 (0.07) 0.8 (0.08) 0.9 (0.10) 16.6 (0.16) 23.5 (0.28) 15.3 (0.32) 13.9 (0.32) 11.8 (0.35)
Slovenia 23.7 (0.22) 31.3 (0.51) 10.6 (0.16) 12.2 (0.36) 11.5 (0.35) 10.1 (0.28) 8.6 (0.29) 13.1 (0.17) 19.2 (0.43) 15.3 (0.40) 9.9 (0.28) 7.7 (0.27)
Spain 23.6 35.5 30.7 (0.08) 39.2 (0.17) 9.2 (0.05) 12.2 (0.11) 11.6 (0.10) 7.0 (0.08) 4.0 (0.07) 21.5 (0.07) 26.9 (0.15) 23.8 (0.13) 18.6 (0.12) 13.7 (0.12)
Sweden 31.6 36.9 34.2 (0.11) 42.2 (0.23) 8.8 (0.06) 8.2 (0.13) 8.3 (0.12) 9.4 (0.13) 9.1 (0.12) 25.4 (0.10) 34.0 (0.22) 28.8 (0.20) 20.6 (0.18) 18.4 (0.17)
                                                     
Switzerland 25.4 25.6 35.2 (0.16) 40.5 (0.39) 10.8 (0.11) 9.9 (0.24) 12.4 (0.21) 11.2 (0.21) 9.2 (0.20) 24.3 (0.15) 30.6 (0.37) 25.8 (0.28) 22.1 (0.28) 18.5 (0.27)
Turkey5 8.9 10.2 13.1 (0.07) 17.4 (0.13) [5] (†) [5] (†) [5] (†) [5] (†) [5] (†) 13.1 (0.07) 17.4 (0.13) 12.2 (0.12) 9.4 (0.12) 9.5 (0.14)
United Kingdom 26.0 30.0 38.2 (0.21) 46.0 (0.46) 10.2 (0.13) 8.1 (0.25) 11.1 (0.26) 11.7 (0.26) 9.6 (0.25) 28.0 (0.19) 37.9 (0.45) 29.5 (0.38) 23.5 (0.35) 20.4 (0.35)
United States 37.3 39.1 41.7 (0.24) 42.3 (0.38) 10.0 0.1 9.5 (0.22) 10.3 (0.20) 10.6 (0.22) 9.2 (0.23) 31.7 (0.22) 32.8 (0.36) 33.1 (0.38) 29.4 (0.41) 31.7 (0.42)
                                                     
Other reporting                                                    
countries                                                    
Brazil4,5,6 7.7 6.7 10.9 (0.07) 11.6 (0.12) [5] (†) [5] (†) [5] (†) [5] (†) [5] (†) 10.9 (0.07) 11.6 (0.12) 11.3 (0.13) 10.7 (0.14) 8.9 (0.16)
China4 4.6 6.1 (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Russian Federation7 54.0 55.5 (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
#Rounds to zero.
1 The vocational degree data in this table refer to degrees classified as International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) level 5B. ISCED level 5B corresponds to the associate's degree in the United States.
2 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.
3 Refers to the mean of the data values for all reporting OECD countries, to which each country reporting data contributes equally. The average includes all current Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries for which a given year's data are available, even if they were not members of OECD in that year.
4 Data from 2000 reported for 2001.
5 Columns for bachelor's or higher degree include vocational degree data.
6 Data from 2009 reported for 2010.
7 Data from 2002 reported for 2001.
NOTE: Standard errors are not available for 2001.
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Education at a Glance, 2002 and 2012. (This table was prepared June 2012.)

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