Iceland vs United States of America: Share of the population with tertiary education
Iceland
51.4%
in 2020
United States of America
60.9%
in 2020
Iceland rank
5th
United States of America rank
2nd
Share of the population with tertiary education over time
- Iceland
- United States of America
How they compare
United States of America currently reports 60.9% against 51.4% in Iceland, a difference of 9.5%.
That makes United States of America's figure about 1.2 times Iceland's.
Across all 31 years both countries report, United States of America has been ahead every year.
Iceland ranks 5th and United States of America ranks 2nd of 111 countries.
United States of America has averaged higher in every one of the 16 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Iceland | United States of America | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 0.0% | 0.9% | 0.9% | United States of America |
| 1880s | 0.0% | 1.2% | 1.2% | United States of America |
| 1890s | 0.0% | 2.6% | 2.6% | United States of America |
| 1900s | 0.1% | 4.2% | 4.2% | United States of America |
| 1910s | 0.3% | 6.0% | 5.7% | United States of America |
| 1920s | 0.7% | 8.0% | 7.3% | United States of America |
| 1930s | 1.2% | 10.0% | 8.8% | United States of America |
| 1940s | 2.0% | 12.1% | 10.0% | United States of America |
| 1950s | 3.1% | 15.2% | 12.1% | United States of America |
| 1960s | 4.6% | 19.1% | 14.6% | United States of America |
| 1970s | 6.2% | 26.5% | 20.2% | United States of America |
| 1980s | 10.3% | 39.3% | 29.0% | United States of America |
| 1990s | 15.2% | 50.5% | 35.3% | United States of America |
| 2000s | 22.4% | 56.3% | 33.9% | United States of America |
| 2010s | 37.1% | 60.3% | 23.2% | United States of America |
| 2020s | 51.4% | 60.9% | 9.5% | United States of America |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of the population with tertiary education, Iceland or United States of America?
- United States of America, at 60.9% against 51.4% in Iceland as of 2020.
- What is the difference in share of the population with tertiary education between Iceland and United States of America?
- 9.5%, with United States of America ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Iceland and United States of America?
- 31 years are reported by both, from 1870 to 2020.
- How do Iceland and United States of America rank globally for share of the population with tertiary education?
- Iceland ranks 5th and United States of America ranks 2nd 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.