International comparison of education levels
Despite the many levels of education in different countries, almost all countries have a primary and secondary level and the internationally recognized bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. This global comparison shows the attained qualifications at each level.In addition, we have created a ranking from the data. This puts the USA in 5th place. The United Kingdom makes it to 15th position.
Levels of education by country
The following table shows the percentage of the population aged at least 25 for each completed level of education. The columns reflect the ISCED classifications ("International Standard Classification of Education") of UNESCO. Elementary school, lower and upper secondary levels are not called the same everywhere, but they correspond roughly to the same system. According to the UN classification, these are the levels ISCED 1 to 3. Level 1 corresponds to elementary school and level 3 ends in the USA with high school.The area of post-secondary education, including tertiary education was deliberately omitted here. The transitions between universities, postgraduate schools and vocational training are defined differently in a number of countries. A cross-national comparison - especially in connection with a ranking - would not be feasible here.
Further information and more detailed information can be found on the linked country pages.
| Country/Region | Elementary | Lower sec. | Upper sec. | Bachelor | Master | Doctoral | Overall ranking | Russia | 100.0 % | 98.9 % | 92.9 % | 41.2 % | 18.9 % | 24.4 % | 351.9 | Georgia | 99.6 % | 98.6 % | 93.5 % | 33.7 % | 24.9 % | 0.5 % | 350.3 | Lithuania | 99.4 % | 97.9 % | 92.5 % | 41.3 % | 15.8 % | 0.6 % | 346.9 | Switzerland | 99.6 % | 98.2 % | 84.4 % | 41.6 % | 19.1 % | 3.3 % | 342.9 | United States of America | 99.1 % | 96.6 % | 91.6 % | 39.1 % | 15.0 % | 2.3 % | 341.4 | Latvia | 99.6 % | 98.7 % | 89.2 % | 33.2 % | 20.2 % | 0.7 % | 340.9 | Estonia | 99.9 % | 98.7 % | 86.6 % | 32.9 % | 21.8 % | 0.7 % | 339.9 | Armenia | 99.7 % | 99.1 % | 92.8 % | 25.9 % | 21.9 % | 0.9 % | 339.4 | Luxembourg | 98.3 % | 90.7 % | 77.2 % | 41.9 % | 29.1 % | 2.8 % | 337.2 | Slovakia | 99.8 % | 99.4 % | 90.1 % | 25.3 % | 22.3 % | 0.8 % | 336.9 | Ireland | 99.7 % | 92.5 % | 83.0 % | 41.9 % | 16.0 % | 1.5 % | 333.1 | Sweden | 100.0 % | 95.4 % | 84.7 % | 34.9 % | 17.0 % | 1.9 % | 332.0 | Iceland | 100.0 % | 99.6 % | 80.2 % | 34.5 % | 16.7 % | 1.3 % | 331.0 | Czechia | 99.9 % | 99.9 % | 91.4 % | 22.0 % | 16.6 % | 0.7 % | 329.8 | United Kingdom | 99.5 % | 99.0 % | 79.4 % | 37.1 % | 14.5 % | 1.9 % | 329.5 | Canada | 96.4 % | 96.4 % | 89.9 % | 34.7 % | 11.2 % | 1.1 % | 328.6 | Israel | 96.4 % | 91.6 % | 85.2 % | 38.3 % | 15.3 % | 1.6 % | 326.8 | Norway | 99.7 % | 98.9 % | 81.9 % | 32.2 % | 13.6 % | 1.5 % | 326.3 | United Arab Emirates | 95.7 % | 87.3 % | 76.9 % | 52.7 % | 13.4 % | 0.7 % | 326.0 | Hungary | 99.7 % | 98.9 % | 83.9 % | 26.4 % | 13.1 % | 0.5 % | 322.0 | Bulgaria | 99.2 % | 97.0 % | 80.2 % | 26.4 % | 18.9 % | 0.3 % | 321.7 | Germany | 100.0 % | 94.8 % | 81.9 % | 30.5 % | 12.7 % | 1.9 % | 319.9 | Australia | 99.5 % | 93.2 % | 79.9 % | 36.8 % | 10.3 % | 1.8 % | 319.7 | Denmark | 100.0 % | 93.3 % | 78.1 % | 33.6 % | 14.0 % | 1.3 % | 319.0 | Finland | 100.0 % | 91.7 % | 82.1 % | 29.9 % | 14.9 % | 1.6 % | 318.6 | Azerbaijan | 99.9 % | 98.2 % | 91.8 % | 17.7 % | 10.3 % | 0.4 % | 317.9 | Slovenia | 99.8 % | 99.3 % | 82.3 % | 22.0 % | 13.7 % | 2.4 % | 317.1 | Poland | 99.7 % | 98.1 % | 67.0 % | 28.6 % | 22.3 % | 0.8 % | 315.7 | Croatia | 99.5 % | 95.7 % | 81.4 % | 22.0 % | 17.0 % | 0.9 % | 315.6 | Netherlands | 97.3 % | 90.3 % | 74.1 % | 36.6 % | 15.2 % | 1.1 % | 313.5 | Belgium | 95.8 % | 88.9 % | 74.4 % | 37.4 % | 16.0 % | 1.0 % | 312.5 | Cyprus | 97.1 % | 85.9 % | 78.3 % | 34.7 % | 15.9 % | 0.9 % | 311.9 | Mongolia | 95.8 % | 92.8 % | 84.0 % | 35.5 % | 3.3 % | 0.3 % | 311.4 | Japan | 99.6 % | 98.6 % | 85.2 % | 25.5 % | 2.5 % | 311.4 | Montenegro | 93.7 % | 92.5 % | 59.3 % | 61.1 % | 4.5 % | 0.9 % | 311.1 | South Korea | 97.9 % | 90.0 % | 81.5 % | 36.5 % | 5.1 % | 1.0 % | 311.0 | New Caledonia | 100.0 % | 95.7 % | 84.0 % | 19.6 % | 9.9 % | 1.8 % | 309.2 | Austria | 100.0 % | 98.8 % | 82.6 % | 14.9 % | 12.8 % | 0.5 % | 309.1 | France | 100.0 % | 91.6 % | 78.0 % | 24.4 % | 13.5 % | 1.1 % | 307.5 | Bahamas | 99.1 % | 94.6 % | 90.9 % | 16.9 % | 4.7 % | 18.7 % | 306.2 | North Korea | 97.5 % | 88.8 % | 79.8 % | 34.5 % | 4.6 % | 0.8 % | 305.2 | Puerto Rico | 94.2 % | 88.8 % | 81.8 % | 29.6 % | 7.9 % | 1.2 % | 302.3 | Moldova | 99.5 % | 98.3 % | 75.3 % | 22.6 % | 3.5 % | 0.2 % | 299.2 | Palau | 96.1 % | 94.4 % | 87.6 % | 14.7 % | 3.0 % | 0.3 % | 295.8 | Saudi Arabia | 93.3 % | 85.8 % | 76.0 % | 36.0 % | 4.4 % | 0.7 % | 295.5 | Romania | 99.0 % | 93.4 % | 72.8 % | 14.6 % | 9.8 % | 0.1 % | 289.6 | Malta | 99.8 % | 93.7 % | 55.2 % | 26.3 % | 11.6 % | 0.7 % | 286.6 | Curacao | 99.4 % | 90.4 % | 51.0 % | 30.2 % | 13.9 % | 284.9 | Greece | 97.5 % | 78.4 % | 70.1 % | 28.9 % | 8.4 % | 0.7 % | 283.3 | Andorra | 99.2 % | 83.2 % | 61.2 % | 25.0 % | 12.7 % | 0.5 % | 281.3 | Oman | 98.4 % | 96.8 % | 63.5 % | 19.1 % | 2.8 % | 0.3 % | 280.6 | New Zealand | 81.9 % | 81.9 % | 75.1 % | 32.3 % | 6.2 % | 1.1 % | 277.4 | San Marino | 98.9 % | 87.7 % | 58.6 % | 18.4 % | 13.1 % | 276.7 | Serbia | 99.0 % | 76.8 % | 77.1 % | 20.0 % | 3.5 % | 0.6 % | 276.4 | Chile | 92.5 % | 87.8 % | 69.8 % | 22.3 % | 3.3 % | 0.2 % | 275.7 | Albania | 99.3 % | 93.2 % | 54.0 % | 17.5 % | 11.4 % | 0.3 % | 275.4 | Seychelles | 97.5 % | 79.6 % | 84.3 % | 9.5 % | 4.2 % | 275.1 | Spain | 94.4 % | 84.3 % | 55.7 % | 25.0 % | 14.9 % | 0.8 % | 274.3 | Bahrain | 89.7 % | 82.6 % | 66.4 % | 29.2 % | 5.8 % | 0.6 % | 273.7 | Brunei | 91.4 % | 88.7 % | 67.9 % | 18.5 % | 5.2 % | 1.3 % | 271.7 | Italy | 98.0 % | 84.4 % | 55.3 % | 17.6 % | 13.0 % | 0.5 % | 268.3 | North Macedonia | 93.8 % | 69.0 % | 68.7 % | 20.0 % | 12.5 % | 9.9 % | 264.0 | Malaysia | 94.8 % | 80.6 % | 69.8 % | 14.6 % | 1.6 % | 0.1 % | 261.4 | East Timor | 98.0 % | 77.8 % | 63.5 % | 20.4 % | 1.3 % | 0.2 % | 261.0 | Zimbabwe | 94.9 % | 90.6 % | 65.9 % | 1.1 % | 0.2 % | 0.1 % | 252.7 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 91.4 % | 72.3 % | 72.0 % | 11.3 % | 2.0 % | 0.2 % | 249.0 | Qatar | 90.5 % | 73.7 % | 51.4 % | 30.4 % | 2.2 % | 0.6 % | 248.2 | Tonga | 96.5 % | 94.2 % | 41.6 % | 11.4 % | 1.6 % | 0.2 % | 245.3 | Sri Lanka | 87.3 % | 82.7 % | 65.3 % | 5.4 % | 0.9 % | 241.6 | Portugal | 95.6 % | 64.5 % | 48.6 % | 24.9 % | 6.3 % | 0.8 % | 239.9 | South Africa | 89.3 % | 85.4 % | 48.0 % | 14.4 % | 2.6 % | 0.2 % | 239.7 | Jordan | 87.9 % | 79.5 % | 42.6 % | 23.2 % | 2.4 % | 0.9 % | 235.6 | Palestine | 92.0 % | 69.5 % | 45.9 % | 22.8 % | 2.0 % | 0.2 % | 232.2 | Mauritius | 95.8 % | 66.7 % | 51.1 % | 11.7 % | 3.3 % | 0.3 % | 228.6 | Colombia | 83.1 % | 62.7 % | 58.8 % | 17.7 % | 4.6 % | 0.2 % | 226.9 | Namibia | 98.9 % | 76.8 % | 37.5 % | 8.6 % | 1.3 % | 0.1 % | 223.1 | Panama | 88.6 % | 64.7 % | 49.4 % | 14.6 % | 3.7 % | 0.2 % | 221.0 | Iran | 86.9 % | 65.1 % | 45.7 % | 17.9 % | 4.3 % | 0.3 % | 219.9 | Grenada | 97.2 % | 58.1 % | 53.6 % | 7.9 % | 2.5 % | 0.4 % | 219.3 | Turkey | 86.2 % | 54.3 % | 41.1 % | 21.9 % | 15.8 % | 2.7 % | 219.3 | Mexico | 86.3 % | 69.0 % | 42.5 % | 18.4 % | 2.5 % | 0.1 % | 218.7 | Marshall Islands | 92.6 % | 67.8 % | 48.4 % | 4.2 % | 1.1 % | 0.2 % | 214.1 | Bolivia | 71.0 % | 65.6 % | 53.1 % | 18.8 % | 1.6 % | 0.1 % | 210.1 | Dominican Republic | 78.4 % | 61.6 % | 49.4 % | 19.2 % | 1.0 % | 0.2 % | 209.6 | China | 95.8 % | 72.4 % | 31.8 % | 7.7 % | 0.9 % | 0.1 % | 208.6 | Uruguay | 93.8 % | 63.3 % | 35.0 % | 12.9 % | 3.5 % | 2.4 % | 208.5 | Eswatini | 91.8 % | 68.1 % | 19.4 % | 18.3 % | 10.1 % | 207.7 | Nauru | 94.2 % | 71.4 % | 39.5 % | 2.1 % | 0.2 % | 207.4 | Paraguay | 80.2 % | 57.2 % | 46.2 % | 16.2 % | 6.6 % | 0.1 % | 206.4 | Vietnam | 87.5 % | 66.0 % | 39.5 % | 11.3 % | 0.7 % | 0.1 % | 205.0 | Costa Rica | 86.1 % | 52.4 % | 43.3 % | 16.8 % | 2.9 % | 2.9 % | 201.5 | Philippines | 85.7 % | 61.9 % | 34.5 % | 18.1 % | 0.7 % | 0.2 % | 200.9 | Egypt | 69.2 % | 55.7 % | 55.7 % | 18.1 % | 0.4 % | 199.1 | Belize | 93.7 % | 52.2 % | 42.9 % | 7.0 % | 1.9 % | 0.3 % | 197.7 | Botswana | 81.2 % | 63.7 % | 43.0 % | 7.4 % | 1.5 % | 0.3 % | 196.8 | Ecuador | 83.8 % | 54.4 % | 46.2 % | 8.0 % | 3.0 % | 0.2 % | 195.4 | Kenya | 78.8 % | 66.0 % | 39.2 % | 6.8 % | 0.6 % | 0.1 % | 191.4 | Indonesia | 83.8 % | 56.7 % | 39.1 % | 9.3 % | 0.7 % | 0.1 % | 189.6 | Thailand | 75.4 % | 54.2 % | 39.1 % | 17.4 % | 2.0 % | 0.1 % | 188.1 | Kiribati | 93.6 % | 77.3 % | 13.8 % | 1.9 % | 0.7 % | 0.1 % | 187.3 | Nigeria | 71.0 % | 53.4 % | 48.1 % | 10.6 % | 3.2 % | 0.6 % | 186.3 | India | 68.1 % | 52.7 % | 41.3 % | 14.9 % | 3.1 % | 0.1 % | 180.1 | Ghana | 67.3 % | 58.4 % | 22.6 % | 5.2 % | 1.0 % | 0.1 % | 154.5 | Tuvalu | 51.7 % | 47.7 % | 38.9 % | 6.1 % | 2.0 % | 146.4 | Bangladesh | 54.7 % | 45.6 % | 29.3 % | 7.5 % | 3.6 % | 0.0 % | 140.7 | Zambia | 66.5 % | 44.1 % | 24.4 % | 3.2 % | 0.4 % | 138.6 | Honduras | 65.4 % | 34.3 % | 22.2 % | 7.4 % | 0.4 % | 0.3 % | 129.7 | Rwanda | 83.4 % | 22.3 % | 16.3 % | 6.5 % | 0.7 % | 0.1 % | 129.2 | Laos | 63.8 % | 29.0 % | 20.6 % | 6.3 % | 0.6 % | 0.0 % | 120.3 | Papua New Guinea | 62.6 % | 34.5 % | 19.6 % | 3.1 % | 0.2 % | 120.0 | Pakistan | 49.2 % | 38.4 % | 16.5 % | 9.9 % | 3.5 % | 0.0 % | 117.5 | Comoros | 47.0 % | 31.6 % | 22.8 % | 14.1 % | 1.9 % | 0.2 % | 117.4 | Cape Verde | 45.9 % | 33.7 % | 26.5 % | 9.2 % | 0.8 % | 116.1 | Vanuatu | 70.5 % | 28.7 % | 12.2 % | 3.3 % | 0.5 % | 0.1 % | 115.2 | Gambia | 46.4 % | 36.9 % | 24.8 % | 2.5 % | 4.5 % | 115.1 | Guatemala | 54.6 % | 33.9 % | 17.9 % | 5.1 % | 0.4 % | 0.0 % | 111.9 | Iraq | 32.5 % | 32.1 % | 22.9 % | 10.9 % | 0.5 % | 0.1 % | 98.9 | Bhutan | 37.3 % | 27.8 % | 19.2 % | 8.5 % | 1.4 % | 94.2 | Sudan | 37.8 % | 26.2 % | 20.7 % | 8.1 % | 0.7 % | 0.1 % | 93.5 | Ivory Coast | 44.4 % | 25.4 % | 14.1 % | 4.8 % | 2.2 % | 0.3 % | 90.9 | Cambodia | 49.0 % | 22.1 % | 10.4 % | 5.8 % | 0.6 % | 0.0 % | 87.9 | Togo | 43.7 % | 21.6 % | 11.0 % | 4.4 % | 1.1 % | 0.1 % | 81.8 | Malawi | 46.8 % | 18.8 % | 12.1 % | 1.3 % | 0.9 % | 0.1 % | 79.9 | Guinea-Bissau | 31.7 % | 21.4 % | 14.1 % | 2.6 % | 0.3 % | 0.1 % | 70.1 | Mozambique | 32.1 % | 17.8 % | 11.6 % | 3.0 % | 0.2 % | 0.1 % | 64.7 | Ethiopia | 31.3 % | 16.6 % | 9.9 % | 3.8 % | 0.5 % | 0.0 % | 62.1 | Senegal | 25.8 % | 14.7 % | 8.4 % | 3.8 % | 1.6 % | 0.3 % | 54.3 | Afghanistan | 21.0 % | 15.3 % | 12.6 % | 4.0 % | 0.3 % | 53.2 | Benin | 22.6 % | 12.3 % | 6.4 % | 3.9 % | 1.3 % | 0.1 % | 46.5 | Burkina Faso | 21.3 % | 10.2 % | 5.2 % | 2.5 % | 0.8 % | 0.1 % | 40.0 | Mali | 14.5 % | 10.2 % | 7.2 % | 2.3 % | 2.1 % | 0.2 % | 36.3 | Niger | 17.5 % | 8.4 % | 1.7 % | 1.0 % | 0.4 % | 0.1 % | 29.0 |
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Calculation of the ranking
As the individual educational qualifications (apart from the doctorate) generally build on each other, 1 point was awarded for each educational level per percentage of the population. The overall ranking is therefore calculated by adding the individual percentages, but without the doctorate.
Many high degrees in Europe
It is striking that the top places are predominantly from Europe. Seven of the top 10 places alone come from Europe. Even among the top 20, there are still 14. At the bottom of the list are mostly poorer and structurally weak countries. Most of them are from Africa - even though no data is available for many African countries.The two most populous countries, India and China, are particularly striking: only 68.1% of all over 25-year-olds in India have completed elementary school. Only 14.9% have a bachelor's degree.
In China, the proportion of the population with a primary school qualification is significantly higher, but the result drops significantly from secondary level 2 onwards. Only 7.7% of Chinese have a bachelor's degree.
The fact that the United States is comparatively well positioned at upper secondary education is due to its school system: compulsory schooling only ends after high school, which, according to the UN definition, belongs to ISCED level 3 with school years 9-12.
Relation to income
There is a strong correlation between the number of high qualifications and average income or gross domestic product. Access to higher levels of education is often dependent on the money available. The actual costs of education play a rather subordinate role. The time spent at university costs at least enough money to live on, but is not available to earn money. Households or families without adequate reserves can rarely afford this. The situation becomes more drastic in the early school years: In developing countries in particular, children often have to work in the family business and therefore stay away from school.The doctorate
Although we have indicated the proportion of doctoral degrees in the table, we have not included it in the overall ranking. Although this information is published by the UN, in some cases it does not correspond to the internationally valid ISCED level 8 specified by the UN, i.e. a doctorate or equivalent. Of course, no honorary degrees were included here, but the academic degree is not comparable worldwide.This becomes clear when you look at the proportion of doctoral degrees (or Ph.D.) in the population. While it is less than 1% in the vast majority of countries, India has 0.1%, North Macedonia 9.9% and Russia as much as 24.4%.
Although the Russian "Kandidat nauk" is classified by the UN as an ISCED 8 degree and thus reaches the same level as a Ph.D., many countries only recognize it to a limited extent.
Compulsory schooling
Schooling is compulsory in almost all countries, with the global average being 10.1 years. In the USA it is 12 years, in the United Kingdom and Australia 11 years. However, how long and in which school sections these years must be completed varies from country to country. The length of compulsory schooling varies between 5 and 17 years.In the United States, compulsory schooling begins at the age of 6 and one year earlier in the UK and Australia. In other countries, it ranges from 5 to 7 years.
