Nearly half of young people in EU have tertiary education
Eurostat conducted a study of 240 European regions to measure the number and distribution of young people with tertiary education. It found that 42% of people aged 24-35 have a higher education. Some of the study participants may still be studying, as the data is for the year 2022.
The highest percentage of young people with higher education is concentrated in the capital region of Lithuania — 73.6%. This is followed by 11 other European metropolitan regions with figures above 60%. Among them is Luxembourg, as the country actively attracts high-level specialists and educates its own.
In addition to the Grand Duchy, the top-performing regions included metropolitan areas in France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Hungary, Sweden, and Denmark. Many of them also focus on a highly educated workforce due to the wide range of opportunities for professionals.
At the other end of the ranking are countries and regions where higher education is less important. These are often isolated or agricultural regions, as well as areas that employ young people through vocational training and internships rather than higher education.
7 out of 8 regions in Romania, 3 regions in Hungary, 2 regions in Bulgaria, 1 region in the Czech Republic, 3 regions in southern Italy, and 1 region in France stand out for having less than a quarter of their population aged 25-34 with a tertiary education in 2022.
