TOP 10 Countries by Share of Population with Tertiary Education (25–64, 2025)
OECD 2025 report snapshot · Adults aged 25–64
Where Adult Tertiary Attainment Is Highest in the Latest OECD Snapshot
Tertiary education attainment measures the share of adults who have completed short-cycle tertiary, bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral or equivalent programmes. For adults aged 25–64, the indicator shows how much advanced formal education is already present in the working-age population.
The latest OECD release reports 2024 attainment values for adults aged 25–64. It should be read as a 2025 publication snapshot using 2024 attainment data, not as a separate calendar-year 2025 survey. The OECD average for adults aged 25–64 is 41.2%, while the countries in the Top 10 all sit well above that benchmark.
Overview: what the tertiary attainment ranking measures
The ranking compares the proportion of adults aged 25–64 whose highest completed education is tertiary level. It is not a ranking of university quality, current enrolment, student mobility or graduate skills. It captures the educational structure of the adult population after decades of policy choices, labour-market demand, migration patterns and cohort replacement.
The upper tier is dominated by high-income OECD economies with long-standing access to colleges, universities and professional tertiary pathways. Canada is the clear leader at 64.7%, while Ireland, Korea, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and Australia form the next band above 53%. The United States, Israel and Norway sit in a narrow band just above 50%.
Leader
Canada · 64.7%
Highest share of adults aged 25–64 with completed tertiary education in the 2024 OECD data.
OECD average
41.2%
Average share of adults aged 25–64 with a tertiary degree across OECD countries.
Top 10 range
64.7% to 50.4%
Even the tenth-ranked country remains more than six percentage points above the OECD average.
Main limitation
Attainment, not skill
The indicator counts completed qualifications; it does not directly measure literacy, numeracy or job match.
Top 10 countries by adult tertiary education attainment
The Top 10 combines countries with very different higher-education structures. Canada’s lead is partly shaped by a large short-cycle tertiary sector, while Ireland and Luxembourg reflect highly educated workforces in small, open economies. Korea’s high rate reflects a long expansion of tertiary participation, and the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and Israel show the impact of large university systems, graduate-intensive labour markets and skilled migration.
64.7%
Canada leads because tertiary pathways are broad, including substantial college-level and university-level attainment across age cohorts.
57.5%
Ireland combines rapid educational expansion among younger adults with a labour market strongly tied to high-skill services and multinational firms.
56.2%
Korea’s position reflects decades of strong household demand for higher education and a highly competitive transition into tertiary programmes.
54.4%
Luxembourg’s highly international labour market and concentration of professional services lift the education profile of the adult workforce.
53.8%
The United Kingdom ranks high because of large university participation, graduate-intensive services and strong inflows of skilled workers.
53.1%
Australia’s ranking reflects university expansion, vocational-tertiary routes and skilled migration into an already highly educated labour market.
51.8%
Sweden combines broad access to tertiary education with a labour market that rewards advanced technical, public-sector and professional skills.
50.7%
The United States enters the Top 10 because more than half of adults aged 25–64 have completed tertiary education, supported by a large university sector and a graduate-heavy labour market.
50.5%
Israel’s high share is linked to a large high-skill economy, strong technology sectors and a population with high levels of post-secondary completion.
50.4%
Norway rounds out the Top 10, with high attainment among younger adults and a strong public-sector and professional employment base.
Main ranking table
The table shows the Top 10 countries in the 2024 OECD adult tertiary attainment snapshot, with filters for quick comparison by region and ranking order.
| Rank | Country | Adults 25–64 with tertiary education | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada | 64.7% | North America |
| 2 | Ireland | 57.5% | Europe |
| 3 | Korea | 56.2% | Asia |
| 4 | Luxembourg | 54.4% | Europe |
| 5 | United Kingdom | 53.8% | Europe |
| 6 | Australia | 53.1% | Oceania |
| 7 | Sweden | 51.8% | Europe |
| 8 | United States | 50.7% | North America |
| 9 | Israel | 50.5% | Middle East |
| 10 | Norway | 50.4% | Europe |
Source: OECD Education at a Glance 2025 / Education GPS. Data year: 2024. Indicator: share of adults aged 25–64 whose highest completed education is tertiary level, corresponding to ISCED 2011 levels 5–8.
Charts
Top 10 tertiary attainment rates
The bar chart shows the distance between Canada and the rest of the upper tier. The countries ranked second through tenth are much closer to each other than to the leader.
Top 10 values: Canada 64.7%; Ireland 57.5%; Korea 56.2%; Luxembourg 54.4%; United Kingdom 53.8%; Australia 53.1%; Sweden 51.8%; United States 50.7%; Israel 50.5%; Norway 50.4%.
Age-cohort differences are important, but the chart above stays with the same 25–64 measure used in the ranking, so the visual comparison remains consistent.
Methodology
The ranking uses the share of adults aged 25–64 who have completed tertiary education. OECD defines this population as those whose highest completed education is tertiary level. This includes academic programmes leading to advanced research or high-skill professions and more vocational tertiary programmes that lead directly to the labour market.
International comparisons are still sensitive to education-system structure. Countries with large short-cycle tertiary sectors may rank higher than countries where similar professional training is classified differently. Migration also matters: skilled immigration can raise the adult attainment profile independently of the domestic education pipeline.
Insights
Upper tier: Canada stands apart
Canada’s 64.7% is not just slightly ahead of the field; it is more than seven percentage points above second-ranked Ireland. That lead reflects both university attainment and a broad short-cycle tertiary sector, so Canada should not be read only through the lens of four-year university degrees.
Middle of the Top 10: compact high-skill economies
Ireland, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Australia, Sweden and Norway are all high-income economies where graduate-intensive services, public-sector professional jobs and knowledge-economy industries are central to labour-market structure. Their rankings reflect long-run education expansion and demand for skilled labour.
Asia and regional contrast
Korea ranks third and Israel ranks ninth, showing that high tertiary attainment is not confined to Europe or North America. Korea’s result reflects decades of rapid tertiary expansion, while Israel’s reflects a high-skill labour market with strong technology and research sectors.
The safest interpretation is structural rather than personal: a high country-level attainment rate signals a large pool of formal qualifications, but it does not guarantee that every degree produces the same skill level or labour-market return.
What this means for readers
For students and families, the ranking provides context for how normal tertiary education has become in different labour markets. In countries where half or more of adults have completed tertiary education, employers may treat post-secondary credentials as a baseline for many professional roles rather than as a rare advantage.
For employers, the ranking helps frame the depth of the credentialed labour pool, but it should be paired with skills evidence, field-of-study data and work experience. For policymakers, the key question is not only how many adults complete tertiary programmes, but whether those programmes are accessible, completed on time and connected to real skills.
FAQ
What does tertiary education mean here?
It means completed education at ISCED levels 5–8: short-cycle tertiary, bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral or equivalent programmes. It includes both academic and vocationally oriented tertiary routes.
Why are 2024 values used for a 2025 ranking page?
Education at a Glance 2025 is the OECD release used for this page, while the adult attainment values in that release refer to 2024. That is why the page is framed as a 2025 source snapshot based on 2024 data.
Is this the same as university enrolment?
No. Enrolment counts people currently studying. Attainment counts adults who have already completed a tertiary qualification. It is a stock measure built up across many years.
Does a higher share mean a better education system?
Not automatically. A high share shows widespread completion of tertiary qualifications, but quality, skills, completion rates, equity and labour-market matching require separate indicators.
Why is Canada so high?
Canada combines high attainment among younger adults with a high share among older adults, and its tertiary structure includes a large college and short-cycle tertiary sector as well as universities.
Why compare ages 25–64?
The 25–64 age band captures the main working-age adult population and largely avoids counting people who are still completing their first tertiary qualification.
Sources
These sources provide the indicator definition, the 2024 data context and the OECD comparison used here.
Main publication for the 2025 reporting cycle, with a special focus on tertiary education and adult qualifications.
https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/education-at-a-glance-2025_1c0d9c79-en.htmlOfficial indicator definition: completed tertiary education by age group, expressed as a share of the same age population.
https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/population-with-tertiary-education.htmlUsed for the OECD average and age-cohort context for adults aged 25–64 and 25–34.
https://gpseducation.oecd.org/IndicatorExplorer?plotter=h5&query=37Reference classification for tertiary levels 5–8 used to compare education systems internationally.
https://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/international-standard-classification-education-isced
