Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper male in Belgium
Belgium: Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper male was 74.9% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Belgium, 1970–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Belgium recorded 74.9% for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in 2023.
That represents a change of up 13.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Belgium peaked at 75.0% in 2021 and was at its lowest, 17.4%, in 1970.
Belgium ranks 54th of 140 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 33 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper male in Belgium, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 17.4% | — |
| 1992 | 46.9% | +169.1% |
| 1993 | 47.9% | +2.1% |
| 1994 | 49.8% | +3.9% |
| 1995 | 51.4% | +3.3% |
| 1996 | 52.9% | +2.9% |
| 1997 | 53.3% | +0.8% |
| 1998 | 51.3% | -3.8% |
| 1999 | 51.2% | -0.2% |
| 2000 | 51.8% | +1.3% |
| 2001 | 53.7% | +3.6% |
| 2002 | 54.5% | +1.4% |
| 2003 | 55.0% | +1.1% |
| 2004 | 57.7% | +4.9% |
| 2005 | 59.4% | +2.9% |
| 2006 | 60.2% | +1.4% |
| 2007 | 61.3% | +1.8% |
| 2008 | 63.4% | +3.5% |
| 2009 | 64.3% | +1.4% |
| 2010 | 63.8% | -0.7% |
| 2011 | 64.8% | +1.4% |
| 2012 | 65.0% | +0.3% |
| 2013 | 65.8% | +1.3% |
| 2014 | 65.9% | +0.1% |
| 2015 | 67.8% | +3.0% |
| 2016 | 68.9% | +1.5% |
| 2017 | 70.7% | +2.7% |
| 2018 | 71.1% | +0.5% |
| 2019 | 72.4% | +1.8% |
| 2020 | 72.9% | +0.7% |
| 2021 | 75.0% | +2.9% |
| 2022 | 74.9% | -0.2% |
| 2023 | 74.9% | +0.0% |
Belgium compared with similar countries
- Belgium's 74.9% is below the median for high income countries, which is 79.7%, 94% of the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Belgium's 74.9% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 81.6%, 92% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper male in Belgium 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | +169.1% | 17.4% | 46.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 17.4% | 17.4% | 17.4% | 1 |
| 1990s | 50.6% | 46.9% | 53.3% | 8 |
| 2000s | 58.1% | 51.8% | 64.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 67.6% | 63.8% | 72.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 74.4% | 72.9% | 75.0% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Belgium
More education data for Belgium
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 98.32 (2023)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 98.34 (2023)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 137,795 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 17,384 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 221,494 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 210,503 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.18 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 814,388 (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -0.1356 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Belgium?
- Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Belgium was 74.9% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Belgium?
- The highest recorded value was 75.0% in 2021.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Belgium?
- The lowest recorded value was 17.4% in 1970.
- How does Belgium rank for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or?
- Belgium ranks 54th out of 140 countries with data for 2023.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or rising or falling in Belgium?
- Over the last ten years it is up 13.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Belgium data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or higher, population 25+ years, male (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 33 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release