<p><em><strong>Which countries have the most educated populations?</strong></em></p>

<p>Higher levels of tertiary education among a populace generally indicate greater potential for innovation and economic growth, but this isn’t always the case.</p>

<p>In this graphic, <a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/most-educated-populations-in-world-ranking/">Visual Capitalist's Marcus Lu visualizes</a> educational attainment by country, breaking things down into three categories: below high-school, high-school or diploma, and college or university degree.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Educational-Attainment-by-Countr.jpg?itok=CDtVXWb3" data-link-option="0" href="/s3/files/inline-images/Educational-Attainment-by-Countr.jpg?itok=CDtVXWb3"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c0e50965-fec4-4e7f-8d7d-7bda9bd7d44b" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="819" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://zh-dev-046fffa0-2095-430f-bd04-a687fe941952.storage.googleapis.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Educational-Attainment-by-Countr.jpg?itok=CDtVXWb3" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /></picture></a></p>

<h2>Data &amp; Discussion</h2>

<p>This data comes from the OECD’s <a href="https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/2025/09/education-at-a-glance-2025_c58fc9ae.html">Education at a Glance 2025 report</a>. It compares educational attainment among working-age adults across 45 countries as of 2024.</p>

<table class="tablepress tablepress-id-6402" id="tablepress-6402"><thead><tr class="row-1"><th class="column-1">Country</th>
			<th class="column-2">Below high-school<br />
			(%)</th>
			<th class="column-3">High-school or<br />
			diploma (%)</th>
			<th class="column-4">College or university<br />
			degree (%)</th>
		</tr></thead><tbody class="row-striping row-hover"><tr class="row-2"><td class="column-1">?? Canada</td>
			<td class="column-2">6.4</td>
			<td class="column-3">28.9</td>
			<td class="column-4">64.7</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-3"><td class="column-1">?? Ireland</td>
			<td class="column-2">10.7</td>
			<td class="column-3">31.7</td>
			<td class="column-4">57.5</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-4"><td class="column-1">?? South Korea</td>
			<td class="column-2">6.5</td>
			<td class="column-3">37.3</td>
			<td class="column-4">56.2</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-5"><td class="column-1">?? Luxembourg</td>
			<td class="column-2">17.6</td>
			<td class="column-3">28.0</td>
			<td class="column-4">54.4</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-6"><td class="column-1">?? UK</td>
			<td class="column-2">17.1</td>
			<td class="column-3">29.0</td>
			<td class="column-4">53.8</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-7"><td class="column-1">?? Australia</td>
			<td class="column-2">13.0</td>
			<td class="column-3">33.9</td>
			<td class="column-4">53.1</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-8"><td class="column-1">?? Sweden</td>
			<td class="column-2">11.7</td>
			<td class="column-3">36.5</td>
			<td class="column-4">51.8</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-9"><td class="column-1">?? U.S.</td>
			<td class="column-2">8.0</td>
			<td class="column-3">41.3</td>
			<td class="column-4">50.7</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-10"><td class="column-1">?? Israel</td>
			<td class="column-2">12.3</td>
			<td class="column-3">37.2</td>
			<td class="column-4">50.5</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-11"><td class="column-1">?? Norway</td>
			<td class="column-2">17.1</td>
			<td class="column-3">32.5</td>
			<td class="column-4">50.4</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-12"><td class="column-1">?? Lithuania</td>
			<td class="column-2">7.0</td>
			<td class="column-3">45.3</td>
			<td class="column-4">47.7</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-13"><td class="column-1">?? Switzerland</td>
			<td class="column-2">13.8</td>
			<td class="column-3">39.7</td>
			<td class="column-4">46.5</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-14"><td class="column-1">?? Denmark</td>
			<td class="column-2">16.2</td>
			<td class="column-3">38.7</td>
			<td class="column-4">45.1</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-15"><td class="column-1">?? Netherlands</td>
			<td class="column-2">18.3</td>
			<td class="column-3">36.6</td>
			<td class="column-4">45.1</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-16"><td class="column-1">?? Belgium</td>
			<td class="column-2">17.2</td>
			<td class="column-3">37.8</td>
			<td class="column-4">45.0</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-17"><td class="column-1">?? Iceland</td>
			<td class="column-2">20.4</td>
			<td class="column-3">35.1</td>
			<td class="column-4">44.5</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-18"><td class="column-1">?? New Zealand</td>
			<td class="column-2">16.9</td>
			<td class="column-3">39.2</td>
			<td class="column-4">44.0</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-19"><td class="column-1">?? France</td>
			<td class="column-2">16.1</td>
			<td class="column-3">40.6</td>
			<td class="column-4">43.4</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-20"><td class="column-1">?? Finland</td>
			<td class="column-2">10.9</td>
			<td class="column-3">46.4</td>
			<td class="column-4">42.7</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-21"><td class="column-1">?? Estonia</td>
			<td class="column-2">9.5</td>
			<td class="column-3">47.9</td>
			<td class="column-4">42.5</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-22"><td class="column-1">?? Spain</td>
			<td class="column-2">34.7</td>
			<td class="column-3">23.0</td>
			<td class="column-4">42.3</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-23"><td class="column-1">?? Latvia</td>
			<td class="column-2">10.7</td>
			<td class="column-3">48.9</td>
			<td class="column-4">40.5</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-24"><td class="column-1">?? Poland</td>
			<td class="column-2">5.2</td>
			<td class="column-3">55.4</td>
			<td class="column-4">39.5</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-25"><td class="column-1">?? Austria</td>
			<td class="column-2">13.1</td>
			<td class="column-3">49.2</td>
			<td class="column-4">37.7</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-26"><td class="column-1">?? Greece</td>
			<td class="column-2">18.1</td>
			<td class="column-3">46.7</td>
			<td class="column-4">35.3</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-27"><td class="column-1">?? Slovenia</td>
			<td class="column-2">11.0</td>
			<td class="column-3">54.4</td>
			<td class="column-4">34.6</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-28"><td class="column-1">?? Germany</td>
			<td class="column-2">15.9</td>
			<td class="column-3">49.9</td>
			<td class="column-4">34.3</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-29"><td class="column-1">?? Bulgaria</td>
			<td class="column-2">13.1</td>
			<td class="column-3">53.1</td>
			<td class="column-4">33.8</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-30"><td class="column-1">?? Chile</td>
			<td class="column-2">25.0</td>
			<td class="column-3">42.1</td>
			<td class="column-4">32.9</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-31"><td class="column-1">?? Portugal</td>
			<td class="column-2">38.5</td>
			<td class="column-3">30.1</td>
			<td class="column-4">31.4</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-32"><td class="column-1">?? Hungary</td>
			<td class="column-2">11.9</td>
			<td class="column-3">57.0</td>
			<td class="column-4">31.1</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-33"><td class="column-1">?? Colombia</td>
			<td class="column-2">32.7</td>
			<td class="column-3">36.8</td>
			<td class="column-4">30.6</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-34"><td class="column-1">?? Croatia</td>
			<td class="column-2">9.7</td>
			<td class="column-3">59.9</td>
			<td class="column-4">30.4</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-35"><td class="column-1">?? Slovak Republic</td>
			<td class="column-2">6.3</td>
			<td class="column-3">64.7</td>
			<td class="column-4">29.0</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-36"><td class="column-1">?? Costa Rica</td>
			<td class="column-2">51.7</td>
			<td class="column-3">20.5</td>
			<td class="column-4">27.8</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-37"><td class="column-1">?? Czechia</td>
			<td class="column-2">5.7</td>
			<td class="column-3">66.8</td>
			<td class="column-4">27.5</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-38"><td class="column-1">?? Türkiye</td>
			<td class="column-2">49.9</td>
			<td class="column-3">23.1</td>
			<td class="column-4">26.9</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-39"><td class="column-1">?? Argentina</td>
			<td class="column-2">32.2</td>
			<td class="column-3">43.6</td>
			<td class="column-4">23.7</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-40"><td class="column-1">?? Italy</td>
			<td class="column-2">33.3</td>
			<td class="column-3">44.4</td>
			<td class="column-4">22.3</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-41"><td class="column-1">?? Mexico</td>
			<td class="column-2">54.4</td>
			<td class="column-3">23.7</td>
			<td class="column-4">21.9</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-42"><td class="column-1">?? Brazil</td>
			<td class="column-2">39.9</td>
			<td class="column-3">38.6</td>
			<td class="column-4">21.5</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-43"><td class="column-1">?? Romania</td>
			<td class="column-2">24.6</td>
			<td class="column-3">56.2</td>
			<td class="column-4">19.2</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-44"><td class="column-1">?? India</td>
			<td class="column-2">75.2</td>
			<td class="column-3">10.5</td>
			<td class="column-4">14.2</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-45"><td class="column-1">?? Indonesia</td>
			<td class="column-2">57.3</td>
			<td class="column-3">29.7</td>
			<td class="column-4">13.1</td>
		</tr><tr class="row-46"><td class="column-1">?? South Africa</td>
			<td class="column-2">49.3</td>
			<td class="column-3">41.7</td>
			<td class="column-4">9.0</td>
		</tr></tbody></table><h3>Leaders in Higher Education</h3>

<p><strong>Canada</strong> tops the list with nearly <strong>65%</strong> of adults holding a college or university degree, followed closely by <strong>Ireland</strong> and <strong>South Korea</strong>.</p>

<p>These nations have invested heavily in expanding access to higher education, driven by knowledge-based economies that reward advanced qualifications.</p>

<p>According to other <a href="https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/earnings-by-educational-attainment.html">OECD data</a>, higher levels of education bring significant earnings advantages.</p>

<p>For instance, across OECD nations, tertiary graduates typically earn double the income of individuals who have not completed secondary education (high school).</p>

<h3>Balanced Education Models in Europe</h3>

<p>Countries like <strong>Austria</strong> and <strong>Germany</strong> demonstrate a more balanced split between tertiary and vocational education (education related to a specific job or trade).</p>

<p>For example, Germany ranks 19th in the world in terms of <a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-50-richest-countries-by-gdp-per-capita-in-2025/">GDP per capita</a>, despite only 34% of its adults having a university degree.</p>

<p>The country has a <a href="https://www.borgenmagazine.com/germanys-apprenticeship-model/">strong apprenticeship system</a> where students combine hands-on training with theoretical learning, resulting in a high rate of employment upon graduation.</p>

<p><em>If you enjoyed today’s post, check out <a href="https://www.voronoiapp.com/education/The-Universities-Producing-the-Most-Billionaires-6792">The Universities Producing the Most Billionaires</a> on <strong>Voronoi</strong>, the new app from Visual Capitalist.</em></p>


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