Percentage of graduates from tertiary education … Services adjusted in Australia
Australia: Percentage of graduates from tertiary education … Services adjusted was 1.2% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in Australia, 1999–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in GPIA.
Analysis
In 2023, percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in Australia stood at 1.2%.
That represents a change of up 15.2% on the previous year and up 22.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in Australia peaked at 1.5% in 2005 and was at its lowest, 0.7%, in 2015.
Australia ranks 19th of 111 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 20 years of available data.
Percentage of graduates from tertiary education … Services adjusted in Australia, year by year
| Year | GPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 0.8% | — |
| 2000 | 0.9% | +10.5% |
| 2002 | 0.8% | -13.5% |
| 2003 | 0.8% | -4.3% |
| 2005 | 1.5% | +90.7% |
| 2006 | 0.9% | -37.0% |
| 2007 | 0.9% | -4.0% |
| 2008 | 1.0% | +7.9% |
| 2009 | 1.0% | +5.7% |
| 2011 | 1.0% | +1.4% |
| 2013 | 1.0% | -3.5% |
| 2014 | 1.1% | +9.5% |
| 2015 | 0.7% | -37.0% |
| 2017 | 0.7% | +4.3% |
| 2018 | 1.2% | +73.4% |
| 2019 | 1.2% | -2.0% |
| 2020 | 1.1% | -6.8% |
| 2021 | 1.1% | -5.9% |
| 2022 | 1.1% | -0.7% |
| 2023 | 1.2% | +15.2% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's 1.2% is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.7%, 1.7× the median. (53 countries reporting)
- Australia's 1.2% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.9%, 1.3× the median. (14 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Percentage of graduates from tertiary education … Services adjusted in Australia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | +90.7% | 0.8% | 1.5% |
| 2018 | +73.4% | 0.7% | 1.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 1 |
| 2000s | 1.0% | 0.8% | 1.5% | 8 |
| 2010s | 1.0% | 0.7% | 1.2% | 7 |
| 2020s | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.2% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 16 Lebanon 1.2% compare
- 17 Saudi Arabia 1.2% compare
- 18 United Arab Emirates 1.2% compare
- 20 Kyrgyzstan 1.2% compare
- 21 Botswana 1.1% compare
- 22 El Salvador 1.1% compare
More education data for Australia
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 99.9 (2023)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 99.88 (2024)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 104,110 (1992)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 316,638 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 292,593 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.65 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- 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)
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 1.2% 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 1.5% in 2005.
- What is the lowest percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.7% in 2015.
- How does Australia rank for percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from?
- Australia ranks 19th out of 111 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 22.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- 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 Services programmes, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA). 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