Share of the population with at least some formal education in Sweden
Sweden: Share of the population with at least some formal education was 96.9% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of the population with at least some formal education in Sweden, 1870–2020
Source: Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of the population with at least some formal education in Sweden is 96.9%, measured in 2020.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population with at least some formal education in Sweden peaked at 99.1% in 1955 and was at its lowest, 78.3%, in 1870.
That places Sweden 58th out of 111 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 31 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 79.1% | 78.3% | 79.9% | 2 |
| 1880s | 82.6% | 81.8% | 83.4% | 2 |
| 1890s | 85.6% | 84.9% | 86.3% | 2 |
| 1900s | 88.2% | 87.6% | 88.8% | 2 |
| 1910s | 91.0% | 90.1% | 91.9% | 2 |
| 1920s | 94.2% | 93.5% | 94.8% | 2 |
| 1930s | 95.7% | 95.1% | 96.2% | 2 |
| 1940s | 97.5% | 97.1% | 98.0% | 2 |
| 1950s | 98.8% | 98.6% | 99.1% | 2 |
| 1960s | 99.0% | 99.0% | 99.1% | 2 |
| 1970s | 98.6% | 98.3% | 98.9% | 2 |
| 1980s | 98.5% | 98.4% | 98.5% | 2 |
| 1990s | 97.8% | 97.8% | 97.9% | 2 |
| 2000s | 98.0% | 98.0% | 98.0% | 2 |
| 2010s | 97.5% | 97.2% | 97.7% | 2 |
| 2020s | 96.9% | 96.9% | 96.9% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Sweden
More education data for Sweden
- Duration of pre-primary education 4 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 62.4% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 16.7% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 13 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 7 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 114.9% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 71,551 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.43 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 119.3% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population with at least some formal education in Sweden?
- Share of the population with at least some formal education in Sweden was 96.9% in 2020, according to Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in Sweden?
- The highest recorded value was 99.1% in 1955.
- What is the lowest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in Sweden?
- The lowest recorded value was 78.3% in 1870.
- How does Sweden rank for share of the population with at least some formal education?
- Sweden ranks 58th out of 111 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of the population with at least some formal education rising or falling in Sweden?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sweden data come from?
- The figures come from Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of the population with at least some formal education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Based on the population aged 15 years and older.