TOP 10 Countries by Tertiary Attainment (Age 25–34, 2025)
EDUCATION · TERTIARY ATTAINMENT 2025
This overview highlights the countries where young adults are most likely to hold a tertiary qualification — typically a bachelor’s degree or higher, but also including short-cycle and advanced degrees. Focusing on the 25–34 age group shows how quickly education systems have expanded higher education opportunities for a new generation.
Across OECD countries, roughly half of young adults now have some form of tertiary qualification. Yet the distribution is far from even. Leaders combine mass participation in higher education with long-term investment in quality secondary schooling, robust student-support systems and active labour-market demand for graduates.
The percentages used here draw on the most recent tertiary attainment figures by age for 25–34-year-olds, as reported in OECD’s Education at a Glance series and compiled in open datasets. They are rounded for clarity and should be read as an analytical snapshot rather than as official rankings.
What “tertiary attainment” actually measures
In OECD and UNESCO statistics, tertiary attainment refers to the highest level of education achieved at ISCED levels 5–8. For the 25–34 age group, this typically includes:
- short-cycle tertiary programmes (for example, 2-year college degrees),
- bachelor’s degrees and equivalent qualifications,
- master’s and professional degrees, and
- doctoral programmes.
When we say that 65% of 25–34-year-olds in a country have “tertiary attainment”, it means that two-thirds of young adults have completed at least one of these levels. It does not say anything about their field of study, institution type or detailed skills; those aspects require separate indicators.
For simplicity, this article uses tertiary attainment among 25–34-year-olds as a proxy for the share of young adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher. In practice, the share with strictly bachelor-level qualifications is slightly lower, because part of the total comes from short-cycle and postgraduate degrees.
Focusing on the younger cohort has two advantages:
- it reflects relatively recent policy choices on higher education expansion, and
- it shows how fast countries are moving towards a “degree-dominant” labour market.
How the 2025 tertiary attainment ranking was built
The ranking below focuses on the share of 25–34-year-olds with tertiary education, using the latest OECD-based estimates compiled in international datasets. The steps are straightforward:
- Take the most recent percentage of 25–34-year-olds with tertiary attainment for each country, as reported in OECD data and reproduced in international comparisons.
- Restrict attention to countries with a complete, recent data series for this age group.
- Rank countries by their tertiary attainment share and list the top ten.
For readability, values are rounded to two decimals. Small differences (for example, 57.47% versus 57.48%) should not be over-interpreted; they mainly reflect data precision rather than meaningful gaps in actual attainment.
Top 10 countries by tertiary attainment (age 25–34)
The table shows the countries with the highest share of young adults who have completed tertiary education. All of them have more than half of their 25–34-year-olds holding a degree at bachelor’s level or above, a striking contrast to global averages.
| Rank | Country | Region | Tertiary attainment 25–34 (%) | Tertiary attainment 55–64 (%) | Gap (young – older, p.p.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada | North America | 66.36 | 51.68 | 14.7 |
| 2 | Japan | East Asia | 64.81 | 47.08 | 17.7 |
| 3 | Luxembourg | Europe | 63.12 | 32.42 | 30.7 |
| 4 | Ireland | Europe | 62.88 | 37.51 | 25.4 |
| 5 | Russia | Europe / Asia | 62.09 | 50.28 | 11.8 |
| 6 | Lithuania | Europe | 57.48 | 31.50 | 26.0 |
| 7 | United Kingdom | Europe | 57.47 | 38.82 | 18.7 |
| 8 | Netherlands | Europe | 55.60 | 30.54 | 25.1 |
| 9 | Norway | Europe | 55.03 | 35.10 | 19.9 |
| 10 | Australia | Oceania | 54.31 | 37.09 | 17.2 |
Percentages refer to the share of each age group that has completed a tertiary programme (ISCED 5–8). Figures are compiled from OECD data and reproduced in international comparisons for 2025; minor differences may appear as countries revise their series.
Reading the map of highly educated young adults
The top 10 countries fall into several broad models of higher-education expansion. While all have strong tertiary systems, the way they arrived there, and the challenges they face next, differ substantially.
Massification in rich, small economies
Countries like Luxembourg, Ireland, Lithuania, Norway and the Netherlands are relatively small, high-income economies. They expanded tertiary education rapidly in the 1990s and 2000s, often backed by EU mobility programmes and strong public funding. For these systems, a bachelor’s degree has become a near-default expectation for many school-leavers, especially in urban areas.
A striking feature is the large gap between younger and older cohorts. In Luxembourg, for example, tertiary attainment among 25–34-year-olds is roughly 30 percentage points higher than among 55–64-year-olds. This points to inter-generational education mobility on a massive scale.
Large systems with long traditions
Canada, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom and Russia operate some of the largest higher education systems in the world. They combine long-established universities with expanding sectors of colleges, polytechnics and private institutions.
For these countries, the central question is less about access and more about quality, relevance and equity: which fields are growing, who is still left behind, how well do graduates’ skills match labour-market needs, and what happens to students who enrol but never complete a degree.
Gender and mobility behind the headline percentages
Women now outnumber men at tertiary level
Across OECD countries, young women are now more likely than young men to hold a tertiary qualification. Recent OECD profiles show that, on average, around 55% of women aged 25–34 have tertiary attainment, compared with about 42% of men in the same age group. This pattern holds in most of the top-10 countries, including Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
This “quiet revolution” in women’s education is one of the biggest structural shifts of the past 30–40 years. It changes the composition of the graduate workforce, the distribution of skills within households and, ultimately, earnings and bargaining power.
Upward mobility — but not for everyone
The large gaps between 25–34- and 55–64-year-olds suggest strong upward educational mobility: many young adults now have degrees even when their parents did not. OECD analyses confirm that among those whose parents attained at most upper-secondary education, a substantial share have climbed into tertiary attainment.
However, mobility is uneven. Children from low-income, migrant or rural backgrounds still face higher barriers to completing a bachelor’s degree, even in countries with generous student-aid systems. In policy terms, the top-10 countries are now shifting from simple growth targets (more graduates) to fairness targets (closing participation gaps).
Chart: tertiary attainment among 25–34-year-olds, top 10 countries
The bar chart below shows the same ranking in visual form. All ten countries are clustered in a band between about 54% and 66% tertiary attainment for young adults. The global OECD average is notably lower, which underscores how exceptional this group is.
On mobile, the chart stretches to full container width; labels and axes use dark, high-contrast fonts to stay readable on small screens.
Data represent the share of 25–34-year-olds with completed tertiary education (ISCED 5–8). For precise values or additional countries, consult the original OECD data.
From access to outcomes: what the top 10 still need to solve
1. Overqualification and skills mismatch
In several high-attainment countries, a significant share of graduates work in jobs that do not formally require tertiary education. This overqualification can depress wages, reduce job satisfaction and fuel debates about whether too many people go to university.
The challenge is less about “too many graduates” and more about the structure of the economy: whether it creates enough high-productivity roles that genuinely use advanced skills, and whether career pathways allow graduates to move into such jobs over time.
2. Field-of-study imbalances
High overall attainment does not guarantee balanced enrolment across fields. Many countries in the top 10 struggle to attract enough students into STEM disciplines, teaching, nursing or early childhood education, even while business and social-science programmes remain oversubscribed.
3. Completion and student wellbeing
Expansion has brought more first-generation students into higher education, which is a success in equity terms but raises questions about academic and financial support. Drop-out rates remain high in some systems, and mental-health services at universities are under strain.
4. Lifelong learning, not one-off degrees
The same data sources that track tertiary attainment highlight a growing need for adult learning and upskilling. As technology and labour markets shift, a bachelor’s degree at age 23 is no longer sufficient for a 40-year career. Top-10 countries are therefore experimenting with micro-credentials, modular programmes and new forms of recognition for prior learning.
Policy lessons for countries catching up
1. Start with strong secondary education
Every country in the top 10 also scores highly on secondary completion. Without a broad base of students finishing upper-secondary school with solid skills, tertiary expansion simply cannot happen. Investments in curriculum quality, teacher training and equitable school funding are therefore a precondition for mass tertiary attainment.
2. Lower financial and information barriers
High-attainment systems typically combine tuition support (grants, income-contingent loans or low-fee public provision) with clear information on programmes and returns. Guidance services help students and families navigate choices between universities, colleges and vocational higher-education options, reducing mismatches and drop-outs.
3. Diversify tertiary routes
Short-cycle tertiary programmes, professionally oriented bachelor’s degrees and applied master’s programmes can bring higher education within reach of students who might not enrol in traditional academic tracks. Countries like Canada and Australia show how strong college sectors can complement universities rather than compete with them.
4. Target under-represented groups
Raising national averages without closing participation gaps is not enough. Successful catch-up strategies set explicit goals for enrolment and completion among low-income, rural, minority or first-generation students, backed by scholarships, mentoring and academic-support schemes.
5. Connect higher education to labour-market demand
Finally, tertiary expansion must be matched with economic strategies that create productive, skills-intensive jobs. Cooperation between universities, employers and public agencies on internships, apprenticeships, research partnerships and regional development helps ensure that high attainment translates into real productivity gains rather than a credential inflation race.
How to interpret tertiary attainment indicators
Tertiary attainment among 25–34-year-olds is a powerful headline indicator, but it has important limitations. Understanding these caveats prevents misinterpretation of small differences between countries or of year-to-year changes.
- Lag and revisions: the figures used in international comparisons often refer to data collected one to three years earlier. Countries may revise their series as new census results or administrative records become available.
- Definition of “tertiary”: ISCED levels 5–8 include short-cycle programmes as well as bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. A country with a very strong college sector can therefore have high tertiary attainment even if a smaller share of its population holds traditional university degrees.
- Attainment vs. skills: completion of a degree does not guarantee mastery of specific competencies. OECD assessments regularly document gaps between formal qualifications and actual literacy, numeracy or problem-solving skills.
- National context: the economic value of a degree depends on labour-market structure, regulation and wage-setting institutions. Two countries with similar tertiary attainment can have very different patterns of graduate employment and earnings.
For these reasons, tertiary attainment indicators are best used as part of a broader dashboard that also includes secondary completion, learning outcomes, graduate employment and measures of equity across social groups.
Primary sources and further reading
The figures and interpretations in this article are grounded in publicly available, regularly updated datasets from international organisations and reputable statistical compilers. For detailed analysis or precise country values, readers should consult the original sources:
- OECD — Population with tertiary education (by age group): the core indicator measuring the share of adults with tertiary attainment, disaggregated by age (including 25–34) and gender, published through OECD Data and the Education GPS platform.
- OECD, Education at a Glance (latest editions): annual flagship report providing cross-country tables and commentary on educational attainment, inter-generational mobility and gender differences, with methodological annexes on ISCED levels and indicator construction.
- UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) — Education attainment series: harmonised data for international monitoring of SDG 4, used in combination with OECD and Eurostat sources for high-income countries and partner economies.
- International comparison of tertiary attainment by country (2025 update): open data compilation based on OECD figures for tertiary attainment among 25–34- and 55–64-year-olds, including the percentages for Canada, Japan, Luxembourg, Ireland, Russia, Lithuania, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway and Australia used in this ranking.
When building your own dashboards or rankings for tertiary attainment, always record the reference year, age band and exact definitions used. This makes it easier to reconcile national statistics with OECD and UIS releases and to update visualisations as new data become available.
