Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in Australia
Australia: Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from was 5.5% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in Australia, 1999–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Australia recorded 5.5% for percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in 2023.
That represents a change of up 1.2% on the previous year and up 6.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in Australia peaked at 8.4% in 1999 and was at its lowest, 4.8%, in 2011.
Australia ranks 46th of 121 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 20 years of available data.
Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in Australia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 8.4% | — |
| 2000 | 7.5% | -10.2% |
| 2002 | 4.9% | -34.2% |
| 2003 | 5.3% | +7.1% |
| 2005 | 5.4% | +2.1% |
| 2006 | 5.4% | -0.4% |
| 2007 | 5.2% | -2.4% |
| 2008 | 5.2% | -0.8% |
| 2009 | 5.0% | -4.6% |
| 2011 | 4.8% | -3.6% |
| 2013 | 5.2% | +8.1% |
| 2014 | 5.3% | +2.3% |
| 2015 | 7.2% | +35.8% |
| 2017 | 7.0% | -3.2% |
| 2018 | 5.8% | -16.6% |
| 2019 | 5.5% | -4.9% |
| 2020 | 5.3% | -3.7% |
| 2021 | 5.5% | +3.4% |
| 2022 | 5.5% | -0.7% |
| 2023 | 5.5% | +1.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 8.4% | 8.4% | 8.4% | 1 |
| 2000s | 5.5% | 4.9% | 7.5% | 8 |
| 2010s | 5.8% | 4.8% | 7.2% | 7 |
| 2020s | 5.4% | 5.3% | 5.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More education data for Australia
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.27 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 0.4362 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0835 units per person (2024)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Enrolment in primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 2.27 million (2024)
- Enrolment in primary education, both sexes (number), annual growth 0.4362 % change on previous year (2024)
- Enrolment in primary education, both sexes (number), per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Enrolment in primary education, both sexes (number), per capita 0.0835 units per person (2024)
- Enrolment in primary education, female (number), gaps filled 1.10 million (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in Australia?
- Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in Australia was 5.5% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 8.4% in 1999.
- What is the lowest percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.8% in 2011.
- How does Australia rank for percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from?
- Australia ranks 46th out of 121 countries with data for 2023.
- Is percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics programmes, male (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 20 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release