Sweden vs United States of America: Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from
Sweden
12.0%
in 2023
United States of America
12.9%
in 2023
Sweden rank
23rd
United States of America rank
21st
Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from over time
- Sweden
- United States of America
How they compare
United States of America currently reports 12.9% against 12.0% in Sweden, a difference of 0.9%.
That makes United States of America's figure about 1.1 times Sweden's.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 8 shared years of data; in 1999 it was United States of America ahead.
Sweden ranks 23rd and United States of America ranks 21st of 124 countries.
Across the 3 decades both report, Sweden averaged higher in 1 and United States of America in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Sweden | United States of America | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 7.3% | 14.7% | 7.4% | United States of America |
| 2010s | 12.5% | 12.0% | 0.5% | Sweden |
| 2020s | 12.2% | 12.6% | 0.4% | United States of America |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from, Sweden or United States of America?
- United States of America, at 12.9% against 12.0% in Sweden as of 2023.
- What is the difference in percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from between Sweden and United States of America?
- 0.9%, with United States of America ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Sweden and United States of America?
- 8 years are reported by both, from 1999 to 2023.
- How do Sweden and United States of America rank globally for percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from?
- Sweden ranks 23rd and United States of America ranks 21st of 124 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from Social Sciences, Journalism and Information programmes, both sexes (%). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
February 2026 Data Release