Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper female in Sweden
Sweden: Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper female was 85.4% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Sweden, 1970–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2023, educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Sweden stood at 85.4%. That is the highest value across all 33 years on record.
The figure is up 0.7% on the previous year and up 17.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Sweden peaked at 85.4% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 31.1%, in 1970.
Sweden ranks 18th of 141 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 33 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper female in Sweden, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 31.1% | — |
| 1974 | 39.3% | +26.5% |
| 1979 | 48.3% | +22.9% |
| 1986 | 51.3% | +6.1% |
| 1987 | 52.7% | +2.7% |
| 1988 | 54.2% | +2.8% |
| 1989 | 55.5% | +2.4% |
| 1990 | 57.8% | +4.2% |
| 1991 | 59.1% | +2.2% |
| 1992 | 62.5% | +5.7% |
| 1993 | 64.8% | +3.6% |
| 1994 | 66.1% | +2.1% |
| 1995 | 67.5% | +2.1% |
| 2004 | 79.9% | +18.3% |
| 2005 | 80.7% | +1.1% |
| 2006 | 81.5% | +1.0% |
| 2007 | 82.2% | +0.9% |
| 2008 | 76.6% | -6.9% |
| 2009 | 77.3% | +1.0% |
| 2010 | 78.1% | +1.0% |
| 2011 | 78.9% | +1.0% |
| 2012 | 79.6% | +1.0% |
| 2013 | 72.8% | -8.5% |
| 2014 | 73.6% | +1.0% |
| 2015 | 74.3% | +1.0% |
| 2016 | 75.0% | +1.0% |
| 2017 | 75.8% | +1.0% |
| 2018 | 83.8% | +10.5% |
| 2019 | 77.2% | -7.9% |
| 2020 | 84.8% | +9.9% |
| 2021 | 83.4% | -1.7% |
| 2022 | 84.8% | +1.7% |
| 2023 | 85.4% | +0.7% |
Sweden compared with similar countries
- Sweden's 85.4% is above the median for high income countries, which is 78.7%, 1.1× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Sweden's 85.4% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 79.0%, 1.1× the median. (46 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper female in Sweden 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | +26.5% | 31.1% | 39.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 39.6% | 31.1% | 48.3% | 3 |
| 1980s | 53.4% | 51.3% | 55.5% | 4 |
| 1990s | 63.0% | 57.8% | 67.5% | 6 |
| 2000s | 79.7% | 76.6% | 82.2% | 6 |
| 2010s | 76.9% | 72.8% | 83.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 84.6% | 83.4% | 85.4% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Sweden
More education data for Sweden
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 99.43 (2024)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 99.43 (2024)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 77,813 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 1,302 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 235,975 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 222,360 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 987,895 (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 859,847 (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -0.8572 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Sweden?
- Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Sweden was 85.4% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Sweden?
- The highest recorded value was 85.4% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Sweden?
- The lowest recorded value was 31.1% in 1970.
- How does Sweden rank for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or?
- Sweden ranks 18th out of 141 countries with data for 2023.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or rising or falling in Sweden?
- Over the last ten years it is up 17.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sweden 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, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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