Indicator 26: Educational Attainment in the Adult Population

G-20 Countries Included: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Upper secondary education was the highest level of education attained by the largest percentage of 25- to 64-year-olds in France, Germany, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

This indicator describes the highest levels of education attained in 2011 by two groups in the populations of the G-20 countries: 25- to 64-year-olds (i.e., the working age population gener-ally) and 25- to 34-year-olds (i.e., young adults). First, the indicator presents the percentages of the working age population who completed each of three levels of education as their highest level: lower secondary education or below, upper secondary education,¹⁰ or higher education. Then, focusing solely on higher education, the indicator compares the percentages of the young adult population and the working age population, as well as the percentages of young adult males and females, at this level of education.

In seven of the reporting G-20 countries (Argentina, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey), over 50 percent of 25- to 64-year-olds had completed lower secondary educa-tion or below as their highest level of educational attainment (figure 26-1). In Italy, too, the largest percentage of 25- to 64-year-olds (44 percent) had completed lower secondary educa-tion or below.

Among the G-20 countries, upper secondary education was the highest level of education attained by the largest percentage of 25- to 64-year-olds in France, Germany, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.¹¹ In these countries, the percentages of 25- to 64-year-olds completing upper secondary education ranged from 41 percent in the Republic of Korea to 59 percent in Germany.

The countries in which higher education represented the highest level of education attained by the largest percentage of 25- to 64-year-olds were Australia (38 percent), Canada (51 percent), and the Russian Federation (53 percent). In the United States, 42 percent of 25- to 64-year-olds completed higher education, a percentage similar to the United Kingdom (39 percent), the Republic of Korea (40 percent), and Japan (46 percent).

Compared to 25- to 64-year-olds, larger percentages of young adults (25- to 34-year-olds) had completed higher education in most of the G-20 countries (figure 26-2). The largest differences were in the Republic of Korea, France, and Japan (by 24, 13, and 13 percentage points, respectively). Only in Germany were the rates of completion of higher education by young adults and 25- to 64-year-olds the same (28 percent), although the differences were small in Brazil (1 percentage point), the United States (1 percentage point), and the Russian Federation (3 percentage points).

In most G-20 countries, more female than male young adults had completed higher education, with the differences ranging from 3 percentage points in the United Kingdom to 16 percentage points in Canada. In the United States, 48 percent of young adult females had completed higher education, compared to 38 percent of young adult males. These findings are consistent with historical data showing that more bachelor's degrees have been awarded to women than to men since about the early 1980s (Snyder and Dillow 2013, table 310). The smallest differences in higher education comple-tion by sex were in Mexico (by 1 percentage point) and Turkey (by 2 percentage points) and were in favor of males.

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Definitions and Methodologie

As shown in the figures, education levels are defined according to the 1997 International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED97). For more information on the ISCED97 levels, see appendix A.

The male-female percentage-point differences in higher education completion presented in the text were computed from unrounded numbers; therefore, they may differ from computations made using the rounded whole numbers that appear in figure 26-2.

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¹⁰ In this indicator, the category of "upper secondary education" includes postsecondary nontertiary programs. See figure 26-1 and appendix A for more information on education levels.
¹¹ In Japan, data for preprimary, primary, and lower secondary education are included in the data for upper secondary education and thus it is not included in statements related to upper secondary education.