Eurostat: percentage of graduates up in the EU. More women than men. Italy second last in Europe

41% of the EU’s young people hold a university degree. This is according to the European Statistical Office Eurostat, which shows that there are more women graduates (47% of the female population aged 25 to 34) than men (36% of the total number of men of the same age). Although the share of men holding a tertiary education degree has increased slowly over the last ten years, the growth rate has been somewhat slower than for women. As a result, the gender gap has become slightly broader over time. “The EU Member States have set themselves a target of increasing the share of the EU population” who “have completed tertiary education to 45% by 2030”, Eurostat explains. However, Luxembourg and Ireland (with over 60% of graduates aged 25 to 34), Cyprus, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Belgium (all four over 50%), and France, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Slovenia, Portugal and Latvia have already met this target. Italy ranks second last with 28% of young graduates, coming slightly ahead of Romania (23%) but after Hungary (33%).

Sarah Numico