Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education or higher, population 25+ years, non-immigrant background, both sexes (%) by country

February 2026 Data Release

Countries reporting
40
Highest
51.1%
United States
Lowest
4.7%
Rwanda
Median
30.0%
Years covered
31
1994–2024
Data points
487

What the numbers show

Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education or higher, population 25+ years, non-immigrant background, both sexes (%) is currently reported for 40 countries. The highest value is 51.1% in United States; the lowest is 4.7% in Rwanda.

The median across all reporting countries is 30.0%, and the mean is 29.1%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 11.

Over the past decade 35 countries rose and 2 fell. The largest increase was in Portugal (up 79.5%), and the largest decrease in Rwanda (down 9.4%).

Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 United States 51.1% 2024 up 18.9% rising
2 Armenia, Republic of 49.1% 2023 down 0.6% flat
3 Ireland 47.4% 2023 up 38.4% rising
4 Sweden 44.8% 2023 up 32.0% rising
5 Cyprus 43.2% 2023 up 25.8% rising
6 Norway 42.6% 2023 up 15.2% rising
7 Iceland 39.7% 2023 up 19.9% rising
8 Finland 39.2% 2023 up 12.8% rising
9 Belgium 39.0% 2023 up 25.8% rising
10 Netherlands 39.0% 2023 up 27.6% rising
11 Denmark 37.8% 2023 up 24.0% rising
12 Spain 37.7% 2023 up 32.7% rising
13 France 37.2% 2023 up 29.4% rising
14 Latvia 36.6% 2023 up 24.3% rising
15 Slovenia 36.5% 2022 up 59.4% rising
16 Luxembourg 35.6% 2023 up 35.4% rising
17 Poland 32.2% 2023 up 43.3% rising
18 Germany 32.0% 2023 up 16.6% rising
19 Greece 30.5% 2024 up 25.5% rising
20 Austria 30.2% 2021 up 14.5% rising
21 Lithuania 29.8% 2013 up 33.1% rising
22 Hungary 27.0% 2023 up 30.2% rising
23 Slovak Republic 26.7% 2023 up 58.1% rising
24 Croatia 26.0% 2023 up 39.4% rising
25 Brunei Darussalam 25.1% 2023 up 19.5% rising
26 Serbia, Republic of 25.0% 2024 up 34.3% rising
27 Portugal 23.7% 2024 up 79.5% rising
28 Bulgaria 22.0% 2013 up 14.1% rising
29 Czechia 21.6% 2023 up 11.4% rising
30 Montenegro 21.5% 2018 β€” rising
31 Albania 19.4% 2023 up 36.1% rising
32 Malta 18.3% 2017 up 46.0% rising
33 Italy 18.2% 2023 up 35.9% rising
34 Costa Rica 17.0% 2007 β€” rising
35 Romania 15.3% 2023 up 15.7% rising
36 Panama 14.6% 2024 β€” falling
37 Uganda 9.4% 2021 up 43.6% rising
38 Ghana 9.1% 2022 up 26.8% rising
39 Honduras 7.3% 2023 up 19.1% rising
40 Rwanda 4.7% 2023 down 9.4% flat

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Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education by country. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 19 August 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/educational-attainment-rate-completed-short-cycle-tertiary-education-or-higher-population-17/

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About this data

Indicator
Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education or higher, population 25+ years, non-immigrant background, both sexes (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics)
Coverage
40 places, 487 data points, 1994–2024
Last refreshed

February 2026 Data Release