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Digest of Education Statistics
2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 604.30. Employment rates and mean monthly earnings of 25- to 65-year-olds, by literacy proficiency level, numeracy proficiency level, and country or other education system: 2012
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Country or other education system1 Total population of 25- to 65-year-olds Proficiency level2
At or below level 1 At level 2 At level 3 At level 4 or level 5
Employment rate of labor force3 Mean monthly earnings
(in current dollars)4
Employment rate of labor force3 Mean monthly earnings
(in current dollars)4
Employment rate of labor force3 Mean monthly earnings
(in current dollars)4
Employment rate of labor force3 Mean monthly earnings
(in current dollars)4
Employment rate of labor force3 Mean monthly earnings
(in current dollars)4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
  Literacy
OECD average5 93.7 (0.08) $2,930 (9) 89.7 (0.36) $2,170 (24) 93.1 (0.19) $2,580 (16) 95.1 (0.16) $3,140 (16) 96.4 (0.30) $3,740 (36)
                                         
Austria 96.2 (0.38) (†) 92.9 (1.54) (†) 96.0 (0.79) (†) 97.2 (0.60) (†) 97.8 (1.28) (†)
Canada 95.9 (0.22) (†) 93.7 (0.92) (†) 95.4 (0.55) (†) 96.7 (0.46) (†) 97.3 (0.61) (†)
Czech Republic 94.2 (0.20) 1,620 (22) 91.3 (2.62) 1,320 (66) 92.6 (0.93) 1,470 (43) 95.6 (0.87) 1,720 (43) 97.7 (1.39) 2,030 (96)
Denmark 94.5 (0.38) 4,090 (28) 90.8 (1.45) 3,210 (84) 94.5 (0.75) 3,730 (53) 95.0 (0.62) 4,390 (58) 96.4 (1.44) 4,850 (139)
England (UK) 94.0 (0.08) 3,180 (43) 87.5 (1.65) 2,140 (108) 92.5 (0.91) 2,610 (91) 96.2 (0.55) 3,440 (96) 97.3 (0.79) 4,380 (151)
                                         
Estonia 93.4 (0.34) 1,750 (25) 89.5 (1.48) 1,420 (75) 92.1 (0.75) 1,560 (42) 94.5 (0.53) 1,820 (41) 97.4 (0.74) 2,260 (87)
Finland 95.5 (0.39) 3,250 (18) 92.5 (2.04) 2,670 (120) 95.3 (0.84) 2,920 (56) 95.8 (0.59) 3,330 (43) 96.1 (0.63) 3,590 (56)
Flanders (Belgium) 98.0 (0.21) 3,650 (35) 96.5 (0.93) 2,790 (106) 97.4 (0.55) 3,220 (67) 98.6 (0.40) 3,860 (69) 98.9 (0.68) 4,470 (151)
France 92.9 (0.19) 2,490 (17) 89.4 (1.08) 1,910 (39) 92.9 (0.66) 2,340 (33) 94.3 (0.64) 2,760 (33) 95.0 (1.39) 3,270 (84)
Germany 95.2 (0.40) (†) 91.1 (1.53) (†) 94.9 (0.84) (†) 96.3 (0.63) (†) 98.3 (0.73) (†)
                                         
Ireland 89.2 (0.53) 3,410 (52) 83.6 (1.95) 2,370 (106) 86.7 (1.12) 2,950 (68) 92.0 (1.02) 3,820 (90) 95.8 (1.36) 4,610 (206)
Italy 87.7 (0.66) 2,510 (36) 84.1 (1.91) 2,290 (103) 87.2 (1.30) 2,360 (68) 90.8 (1.34) 2,800 (75) 93.5 (3.39) 3,140 (248)
Japan 97.6 (0.22) 3,000 (37) 98.9 (1.01) 2,210 (199) 99.1 (0.63) 2,540 (84) 97.5 (0.45) 3,000 (60) 96.2 (0.83) 3,550 (100)
Korea, Republic of 96.8 (0.27) 3,000 (32) 97.4 (0.86) 2,180 (86) 97.0 (0.53) 2,820 (60) 96.7 (0.59) 3,290 (63) 95.5 (1.71) 3,960 (133)
Netherlands 95.8 (0.41) 3,490 (30) 91.5 (2.00) 2,350 (117) 94.7 (0.93) 2,930 (75) 97.0 (0.59) 3,640 (63) 96.8 (0.88) 4,230 (90)
                                         
Northern Ireland (UK) 94.7 (0.49) 2,750 (42) 90.6 (2.03) 1,820 (90) 94.4 (0.96) 2,330 (96) 95.9 (1.01) 3,070 (92) 96.0 (2.10) 3,870 (188)
Norway 97.1 (0.31) 4,090 (30) 93.6 (1.66) 2,910 (110) 96.8 (0.74) 3,630 (66) 97.6 (0.45) 4,340 (56) 98.8 (0.65) 4,850 (99)
Poland 91.9 (0.49) 1,610 (22) 88.0 (1.75) 1,260 (56) 90.8 (1.08) 1,430 (52) 93.9 (0.89) 1,780 (56) 95.5 (1.56) 2,190 (90)
Slovak Republic 90.7 (0.48) 1,570 (25) 79.6 (2.60) 1,060 (63) 90.4 (1.06) 1,380 (39) 92.5 (0.80) 1,700 (46) 93.3 (2.09) 2,110 (150)
Spain 82.7 (0.63) 2,390 (32) 75.1 (1.60) 1,910 (55) 82.5 (1.32) 2,260 (48) 87.4 (1.19) 2,680 (61) 92.1 (2.30) 3,280 (157)
                                         
Sweden 94.9 (0.44) (†) 85.3 (2.21) (†) 94.2 (1.01) (†) 96.3 (0.69) (†) 98.4 (0.73) (†)
United States 92.5 (0.44) 4,260 (80) 89.0 (1.53) 2,730 (150) 90.8 (1.13) 3,480 (110) 93.8 (0.85) 4,740 (148) 97.1 (0.72) 6,310 (323)
                                         
Non-OECD education systems                                        
Cyprus6 92.0 (0.64) 2,860 (38) 87.3 (2.50) 2,490 (149) 91.8 (1.22) 2,660 (73) 93.1 (1.03) 3,010 (73) 93.9 (2.04) 3,440 (197)
Russian Federation7 94.9 (1.02) 840 (25) 95.0 (2.53) 790 (55) 95.9 (1.48) 770 (31) 95.0 (1.33) 870 (36) 91.7 (2.82) 1,000 (61)
  Numeracy
OECD average5 93.7 (0.08) $2,930 (9) 88.8 (0.36) $2,110 (21) 93.2 (0.20) $2,560 (16) 95.5 (0.17) $3,180 (18) 97.0 (0.27) $3,940 (38)
                                         
Austria 96.2 (0.38) (†) 92.7 (1.56) (†) 95.9 (0.79) (†) 97.0 (0.56) (†) 97.6 (0.88) (†)
Canada 95.9 (0.22) (†) 93.0 (0.83) (†) 95.7 (0.57) (†) 96.8 (0.54) (†) 98.4 (0.58) (†)
Czech Republic 94.2 (0.20) 1,620 (22) 87.3 (2.81) 1,280 (56) 92.8 (0.92) 1,460 (38) 95.9 (0.69) 1,690 (43) 97.9 (1.82) 2,060 (86)
Denmark 94.5 (0.38) 4,090 (28) 89.4 (1.72) 3,100 (84) 93.2 (1.02) 3,580 (66) 95.6 (0.60) 4,210 (64) 96.8 (0.77) 4,980 (98)
England (UK) 94.0 (0.08) 3,180 (43) 87.6 (1.25) 2,120 (90) 94.1 (0.83) 2,690 (81) 96.5 (0.74) 3,650 (102) 97.6 (0.87) 4,530 (179)
                                         
Estonia 93.4 (0.34) 1,750 (25) 87.6 (1.53) 1,250 (65) 92.2 (0.76) 1,520 (46) 94.9 (0.58) 1,850 (45) 98.0 (0.73) 2,470 (83)
Finland 95.5 (0.39) 3,250 (18) 90.8 (2.06) 2,510 (89) 94.9 (0.94) 2,880 (57) 96.3 (0.58) 3,320 (47) 96.8 (0.62) 3,830 (73)
Flanders (Belgium) 98.0 (0.21) 3,650 (35) 96.8 (0.99) 2,640 (96) 97.4 (0.62) 3,100 (65) 98.5 (0.39) 3,740 (57) 98.5 (0.51) 4,650 (129)
France 92.9 (0.19) 2,490 (17) 89.1 (0.87) 1,850 (31) 92.4 (0.75) 2,300 (32) 95.5 (0.84) 2,860 (37) 95.7 (1.42) 3,440 (87)
Germany 95.2 (0.40) (†) 89.8 (1.52) (†) 94.5 (0.89) (†) 96.4 (0.65) (†) 98.8 (0.58) (†)
                                         
Ireland 89.2 (0.53) 3,410 (52) 84.1 (1.85) 2,340 (96) 88.2 (1.12) 3,030 (85) 92.1 (1.17) 3,970 (113) 94.9 (1.77) 4,990 (281)
Italy 87.7 (0.66) 2,510 (36) 82.5 (1.91) 2,260 (105) 88.0 (1.28) 2,330 (60) 90.8 (1.28) 2,770 (84) 95.0 (2.64) 3,290 (205)
Japan 97.6 (0.22) 3,000 (37) 98.8 (0.95) 1,980 (141) 96.9 (0.83) 2,420 (85) 97.6 (0.54) 2,990 (66) 98.1 (0.64) 4,030 (99)
Korea, Republic of 96.8 (0.27) 3,000 (32) 96.4 (0.85) 2,210 (72) 96.8 (0.52) 2,880 (61) 96.9 (0.61) 3,370 (68) 97.1 (1.17) 4,040 (145)
Netherlands 95.8 (0.41) 3,490 (30) 90.1 (1.95) 2,280 (116) 95.5 (0.92) 2,900 (79) 96.9 (0.57) 3,650 (70) 97.2 (0.96) 4,470 (106)
                                         
Northern Ireland (UK) 94.7 (0.49) 2,750 (42) 91.2 (1.54) 1,810 (81) 94.5 (1.19) 2,400 (70) 96.4 (1.06) 3,230 (107) 96.0 (2.39) 3,990 (213)
Norway 97.1 (0.31) 4,090 (30) 92.9 (1.65) 2,880 (119) 96.6 (0.77) 3,480 (69) 97.9 (0.45) 4,250 (61) 98.5 (0.56) 5,110 (101)
Poland 91.9 (0.49) 1,610 (22) 86.5 (1.75) 1,260 (53) 91.8 (1.15) 1,430 (38) 94.0 (0.86) 1,800 (49) 96.4 (1.47) 2,290 (107)
Slovak Republic 90.7 (0.48) 1,570 (25) 75.3 (2.92) 1,030 (62) 89.5 (1.12) 1,320 (52) 93.4 (0.77) 1,660 (43) 94.9 (1.41) 2,090 (94)
Spain 82.7 (0.63) 2,390 (32) 74.2 (1.59) 1,830 (51) 82.7 (1.45) 2,270 (53) 88.9 (1.51) 2,800 (68) 93.3 (2.70) 3,300 (170)
                                         
Sweden 94.9 (0.44) (†) 86.2 (2.24) (†) 93.9 (1.33) (†) 96.5 (0.68) (†) 98.2 (0.63) (†)
United States 92.5 (0.44) 4,260 (80) 88.2 (1.36) 2,760 (94) 91.3 (1.13) 3,690 (120) 95.6 (0.92) 5,110 (157) 98.1 (0.71) 6,780 (370)
                                         
Non-OECD education systems                                        
Cyprus6 92.0 (0.64) 2,860 (38) 86.6 (2.24) 2,250 (112) 91.7 (1.26) 2,630 (75) 93.4 (1.04) 3,050 (74) 95.9 (1.57) 3,640 (163)
Russian Federation7 94.9 (1.02) 840 (25) 96.3 (2.04) 750 (55) 95.5 (1.41) 780 (35) 94.9 (1.53) 890 (38) 90.5 (3.89) 990 (68)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
1 Most of the education systems represent complete countries, but three of them represent subnational entities: England (which is part of the United Kingdom), Flanders (which is part of Belgium), and Northern Ireland (which is part of the United Kingdom).
2 In this table, scores below level 1 and scores at level 1 are combined into the "at or below level 1" reporting category; scores at level 4 and scores at level 5 are combined into the "at level 4 or level 5" reporting category. For both literacy and numeracy, the proficiency-level reporting categories correspond to the score ranges shown in parentheses: at or below level 1 (0-225.9), at level 2 (226.0-275.9), at level 3 (276.0-325.9), at level 4 or level 5 (326.0-500.0).
3 The employment rate is the percentage of the labor force that is employed. The labor force consists of those who are employed as well as those who are unemployed but actively looking for work.
4 Mean monthly earnings for those who are employed. Data adjusted to U.S. dollars using the purchasing power parity (PPP) index.
5 Refers to the mean of the data values for all reporting Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries and subnational education systems, to which each country or subnational education system reporting data contributes equally, with the exception of England (UK) and Northern Ireland (UK), which contribute to the mean as a combined entity, England/Northern Ireland (UK).
6 Cyprus includes only the population under the effective control of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus.
7 The Russian Federation does not include the population of the Moscow municipal region.
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), 2012. (This table was prepared March 2016.)

2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest