Educational attainment, at least completed short-cycle tertiary in Mexico
Mexico: Educational attainment, at least completed short-cycle tertiary was 19.7% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment, at least completed short-cycle tertiary in Mexico, 1980–2025
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in cumulative.
Analysis
In 2025, educational attainment, at least completed short-cycle tertiary in Mexico stood at 19.7%. That is the highest value across all 27 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.9% on the previous year and up 21.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment, at least completed short-cycle tertiary in Mexico peaked at 19.7% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 5.3%, in 1980.
That places Mexico 76th out of 129 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 27 years of available data.
Educational attainment, at least completed short-cycle tertiary in Mexico, year by year
| Year | cumulative | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 5.3% | — |
| 1990 | 9.2% | +72.1% |
| 2000 | 9.0% | -1.5% |
| 2002 | 10.8% | +19.5% |
| 2003 | 11.1% | +2.5% |
| 2004 | 12.5% | +13.3% |
| 2005 | 12.1% | -3.4% |
| 2006 | 14.9% | +23.2% |
| 2007 | 14.4% | -3.1% |
| 2008 | 14.5% | +0.1% |
| 2009 | 15.5% | +7.0% |
| 2010 | 14.4% | -6.8% |
| 2011 | 13.7% | -4.9% |
| 2012 | 16.3% | +19.0% |
| 2013 | 14.8% | -9.4% |
| 2014 | 14.4% | -2.3% |
| 2015 | 16.3% | +12.8% |
| 2016 | 15.2% | -6.9% |
| 2017 | 15.8% | +4.4% |
| 2018 | 16.4% | +4.0% |
| 2019 | 16.5% | +0.4% |
| 2020 | 18.8% | +13.7% |
| 2021 | 18.3% | -2.5% |
| 2022 | 18.5% | +1.1% |
| 2023 | 18.8% | +1.4% |
| 2024 | 19.6% | +4.2% |
| 2025 | 19.7% | +0.9% |
Mexico compared with similar countries
- Mexico's 19.7% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 20.1%, 98% of the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Mexico's 19.7% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 18.5%, 1.1× the median. (23 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment, at least completed short-cycle tertiary in Mexico changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | +72.1% | 5.3% | 9.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 5.3% | 5.3% | 5.3% | 1 |
| 1990s | 9.2% | 9.2% | 9.2% | 1 |
| 2000s | 12.8% | 9.0% | 15.5% | 9 |
| 2010s | 15.4% | 13.7% | 16.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 18.9% | 18.3% | 19.7% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Mexico
More education data for Mexico
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 92.12 (1980)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 99.64 (2024)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 868,550 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 96,349 (2025)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 2.14 million (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 2.11 million (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 13.99 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 13.19 million (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment, at least completed short-cycle tertiary in Mexico?
- Educational attainment, at least completed short-cycle tertiary in Mexico was 19.7% in 2025, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
- What is the highest educational attainment, at least completed short-cycle tertiary recorded in Mexico?
- The highest recorded value was 19.7% in 2025.
- What is the lowest educational attainment, at least completed short-cycle tertiary recorded in Mexico?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.3% in 1980.
- How does Mexico rank for educational attainment, at least completed short-cycle tertiary?
- Mexico ranks 76th out of 129 countries with data for 2025.
- Is educational attainment, at least completed short-cycle tertiary rising or falling in Mexico?
- Over the last ten years it is up 21.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Mexico data come from?
- The figures come from Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as part of Educational attainment, at least completed short-cycle tertiary, population 25+, total (%) (cumulative). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
The percentage of population ages 25 and over that attained or completed short-cycle tertiary education.