The share of the EU population aged 20–24 years with at least an intermediate level of educational attainment increased between 2002 and 2021 from 76.8% to 84.6%.
Among the 240 NUTS level 2 regions for which data are available, there were 21 regions where this measure of educational attainment was at least 95.0%. These regions with very high shares of young people having attained at least an intermediate level of education were concentrated across Ireland (all three regions), Greece (8 out of 13 regions) and Croatia (all four regions). The remaining regions with very high shares included the capital regions of Czechia and Lithuania, as well as single regions from each of France, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia.
Source dataset: edat_lfse_04
Greek regions show high level of education
The north-western Greek region of Ipeiros had the highest share of young people aged 20–24 years having attained at least an intermediate level of educational attainment (99.8%). The second and third highest shares were also recorded in Greek regions: Thessalia (99.5%) and Notio Aigaio (98.3%).
At the other end of the spectrum, there were 23 regions in the EU where less than three quarters of all young people aged 20–24 years had attained at least an intermediate educational attainment in 2021. These regions were primarily located across north-western regions of Germany, southern Denmark and southern Spain. However, there were also very low levels of intermediate educational attainment in Yugoiztochen (Bulgaria), Észak-Magyarország (Hungary), Sicilia (Italy), as well as two outermost regions of the EU – Região Autónoma dos Açores (Portugal) and Guyane (France). The last of these recorded the lowest share in the EU (63.2%).
Would you like to know more about education in the EU?
- You can read more in the dedicated section of the Regions in Europe - 2022 interactive edition.
- You can also read more in the Eurostat regional yearbook - 2022 edition, also available as a set of Statistics Explained articles.
- The corresponding maps in the Statistical Atlas provide a full-screen interactive map experience.
For more information:
- Statistics Explained article on education and training statistics at regional level
- Dedicated section on education statistics
- Database on education statistics
- Dedicated section on regions and cities
- Database on regional data
Methodological notes:
- The EU has a policy target in this area to reach a share of at least 90% by 2030.
- In this article, the regional data are presented at NUTS 2 level.
- Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Liechtenstein, Iceland, Montenegro and North Macedonia: single regions at this level of detail.
- Germany: Trier, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Turkey: 2020 data.
- Data not available for:
- Albania
- Liechtenstein
- France: Mayotte
- Finland: Åland
- Norway: Svalbard og Jan Mayen
To contact us, please visit our User Support page.
For press queries, please contact our Media Support.