Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

E2: Environmental statistics and accounts; sustainable development

e-mail contact : ESTAT-SDI-EU2020-INDICATORS@ec.europa.eu

The indicator is part of the indicator sets:

a) EU Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicator set where it is used to monitor progress towards SDG 4 on ensuring inclusive and quality education for all and SDG 5 on gender equality.

SDG 4 seeks to ensure people have access to equitable and quality education through all stages of life, from early childhood education and care, through primary and secondary schooling, to technical, vocational training and tertiary education.

SDG 5 aims at achieving gender equality by, among other things, ending all forms of discrimination, violence, and any harmful practices against women and girls in the public and private spheres.

b) EU 2020 strategy indicators where it is used to monitor progress towards the EU's target of 'reducing the share of early leavers of education and training to less than 10 %' by 2020.

Furthermore, indicator is part of the impact indicators for Strategic plan 2016-2020 referring to the 10 Commission priorities, and included as main indicator in the Social Scoreboard for the European Pillar of Social Rights.

Education and training lie at the heart of the Europe 2020 strategy and are seen as key drivers for growth and jobs. The EU has defined upper secondary education as the minimum desirable educational attainment level for EU citizens. The skills and competences gained in upper secondary education are considered essential for successful entry into the labour market and as the foundation for lifelong learning. All girls and boys t should therefore have not only access to primary and secondary education but also to be able to complete their schooling, because leaving school early has a big impact on people’s lives. People with a low level of education may not only face greater difficulties in the labour market but also have a higher risk of poverty and social exclusion. At the same time, education and training help boost productivity, innovation and competitiveness.

The indicator measures the share of the population aged 18 to 24 with at most lower secondary education who were not involved in any education or training during the four weeks preceding the survey. Lower secondary education refers to ISCED (International Standard Classification of Education) 2011 level 0-2 for data from 2014 onwards and to ISCED 1997 level 0-3C short for data up to 2013. Data stem from the EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS).

% of the population aged 18-24

Calendar year

The indicator is produced according to the high-level quality standards of European Statistics. Details on accuracy can be found in the metadata of the source datasets (see link to related metadata).

ESS (LFS)

Data source: ESS Labour Force Survey (LFS)

Data provider: Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, based on data reported by the countries.

Every year

The indicator is updated annually in April.

T+1 year

New data points are disseminated within one year after the reference year.

All EU MS

Data are presented for all EU Member States plus the United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, North Macedonia and Turkey.

All EU MS

Data are comparable between all EU Member States respectively other presented countries.

> 10 years

Presented time series (including EU aggregates) starts in year 2000.

> 4 data points

Length of comparable time series without methodological break is more than 4 data points.

Introduction of the ISCED 2011 classification: educational attainment is coded according to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED). Data up to 2013 are based on ISCED 1997, as from 2014 ISCED 2011 is applied. Time series for lower secondary education are comparable over time for all available countries except Estonia.

The level shift break in Estonia is due to the reclassification of a programme that can last between 6 months and 3.5 years: the qualification acquired upon successful completion of 'vocational courses based on basic education' is allocated in ISCED 2011 to ISCED level 2; under ISCED 1997 this was reported as level 3.

Analysis of the indicator is presented in

a) Eurostat's annual monitoring report on Sustainable development in the EU (progress towards SDGs in the EU context).

b) Eurostat's annual monitoring report on the Europe 2020 strategy 'Smarter greener, more inclusive? - Indicators to support the Europe 2020 strategy'.

see tables:

a) sdg_04_10

b) t2020_40

Eurostat dedicated section on:

a) SDGs: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/sdi/overview

b) EU 2020 strategy: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/europe-2020-indicators/europe-2020-strategy

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