France vs Spain: Share of the population with tertiary education
France
31.9%
in 2020
Spain
31.3%
in 2020
France rank
15th
Spain rank
18th
Share of the population with tertiary education over time
- France
- Spain
How they compare
France currently reports 31.9% against 31.3% in Spain, a difference of 0.6%.
The two have swapped places 7 times across 31 shared years of data; in 1870 it was Spain ahead.
France ranks 15th and Spain ranks 18th of 111 countries.
Across the 16 decades both report, France averaged higher in 11 and Spain in 3.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | France | Spain | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.0% | — |
| 1880s | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.0% | France |
| 1890s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.0% | — |
| 1900s | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.1% | Spain |
| 1910s | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.1% | France |
| 1920s | 0.8% | 0.6% | 0.2% | France |
| 1930s | 1.1% | 0.8% | 0.3% | France |
| 1940s | 1.6% | 1.1% | 0.4% | France |
| 1950s | 1.9% | 1.5% | 0.4% | France |
| 1960s | 2.8% | 2.0% | 0.8% | France |
| 1970s | 6.6% | 4.1% | 2.5% | France |
| 1980s | 10.6% | 8.5% | 2.1% | France |
| 1990s | 14.8% | 12.4% | 2.4% | France |
| 2000s | 21.9% | 26.0% | 4.0% | Spain |
| 2010s | 29.4% | 30.7% | 1.2% | Spain |
| 2020s | 31.9% | 31.3% | 0.6% | France |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of the population with tertiary education, France or Spain?
- France, at 31.9% against 31.3% in Spain as of 2020.
- What is the difference in share of the population with tertiary education between France and Spain?
- 0.6%, with France ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for France and Spain?
- 31 years are reported by both, from 1870 to 2020.
- How do France and Spain rank globally for share of the population with tertiary education?
- France ranks 15th and Spain ranks 18th 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.