Canada vs Iceland: Share of the population with tertiary education
Canada
51.3%
in 2020
Iceland
51.4%
in 2020
Canada rank
6th
Iceland rank
5th
Share of the population with tertiary education over time
- Canada
- Iceland
How they compare
Iceland currently reports 51.4% against 51.3% in Canada, a difference of 0.1%.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 31 shared years of data; in 1870 it was Iceland ahead.
Canada ranks 6th and Iceland ranks 5th of 111 countries.
Across the 16 decades both report, Canada averaged higher in 13 and Iceland in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Canada | Iceland | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| 1880s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| 1890s | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.3% | Canada |
| 1900s | 1.9% | 0.1% | 1.8% | Canada |
| 1910s | 3.7% | 0.3% | 3.4% | Canada |
| 1920s | 5.5% | 0.7% | 4.8% | Canada |
| 1930s | 7.1% | 1.2% | 5.8% | Canada |
| 1940s | 8.5% | 2.0% | 6.5% | Canada |
| 1950s | 10.5% | 3.1% | 7.3% | Canada |
| 1960s | 14.3% | 4.6% | 9.8% | Canada |
| 1970s | 20.1% | 6.2% | 13.9% | Canada |
| 1980s | 24.7% | 10.3% | 14.4% | Canada |
| 1990s | 25.2% | 15.2% | 10.1% | Canada |
| 2000s | 39.4% | 22.4% | 17.0% | Canada |
| 2010s | 51.9% | 37.1% | 14.8% | Canada |
| 2020s | 51.3% | 51.4% | 0.1% | Iceland |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of the population with tertiary education, Canada or Iceland?
- Iceland, at 51.4% against 51.3% in Canada as of 2020.
- What is the difference in share of the population with tertiary education between Canada and Iceland?
- 0.1%, with Iceland ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Canada and Iceland?
- 31 years are reported by both, from 1870 to 2020.
- How do Canada and Iceland rank globally for share of the population with tertiary education?
- Canada ranks 6th and Iceland ranks 5th of 111 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Share of the population with tertiary education. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Percentage of the population aged 25 to 65 years who have either completed or partially completed tertiary education.