Data / Rankings / Tertiary education gross enrolment ratio / Countries

Countries by tertiary education gross enrolment ratio

Greece had the highest tertiary education gross enrolment ratio of 137 countries in 2017, at 135.3%. Niger had the lowest, at 3.7%. The median was 49.2% and the figure for the World was 37.5%. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Highest135.3Greece
Lowest3.7Niger
Median49.2137 countries
World37.5History

Top 40 countries, 2017

Greece: 135.3 %Greece135.3Türkiye: 110.5 %Türkiye110.5Australia: 110 %Australia110Puerto Rico: 100.7 %Puerto Rico100.7Grenada: 98.7 %Grenada98.7South Korea: 93.7 %South Korea93.7Spain: 92.1 %Spain92.1Finland: 90.7 %Finland90.7Chile: 89.9 %Chile89.9Belarus: 89.5 %Belarus89.5Argentina: 89.3 %Argentina89.3United States: 88.2 %United States88.2Latvia: 88.1 %Latvia88.1Singapore: 84.8 %Singapore84.8Austria: 83.8 %Austria83.8Norway: 83.7 %Norway83.7Netherlands: 83.2 %Netherlands83.2Fiji: 82.3 %Fiji82.3Russia: 81.7 %Russia81.7Denmark: 81.3 %Denmark81.3New Zealand: 81.3 %New Zealand81.3Macao: 81.3 %Macao81.3Bulgaria: 81.2 %Bulgaria81.2Belgium: 80.8 %Belgium80.8Ukraine: 80.2 %Ukraine80.2Cyprus: 79.8 %Cyprus79.8Slovenia: 79.3 %Slovenia79.3Ireland: 77.5 %Ireland77.5Lithuania: 76.5 %Lithuania76.5Hong Kong: 72.9 %Hong Kong72.9Estonia: 72.1 %Estonia72.1Croatia: 71.4 %Croatia71.4Iceland: 71.3 %Iceland71.3Peru: 71.2 %Peru71.2Saudi Arabia: 70.7 %Saudi Arabia70.7Poland: 70.6 %Poland70.6Sweden: 70.4 %Sweden70.4Canada: 70.3 %Canada70.3Germany: 68.5 %Germany68.5Czechia: 67.7 %Czechia67.7
%. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, School enrollment, tertiary, % gross (SE.TER.ENRR) via World Bank, World Development Indicators. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCountries2017 (%)Change on 2016
1Greece135.3+3.9 pts
2Türkiye110.5+6.8 pts
3Australia110-9.7 pts
4Puerto Rico100.7+0.1 pts
5Grenada98.7+1.9 pts
6South Korea93.7+0.1 pts
7Spain92.1+2.3 pts
8Finland90.7+1.4 pts
9Chile89.9+1.1 pts
10Belarus89.5-2.1 pts
11Argentina89.3+2.7 pts
12United States88.2-0.7 pts
13Latvia88.1+7.5 pts
14Singapore84.8+0.9 pts
15Austria83.8+1 pts
16Norway83.7+1.9 pts
17Netherlands83.2+3.4 pts
18Fiji82.3+4.8 pts
19Russia81.7-2.2 pts
20Denmark81.3-0.8 pts
21New Zealand81.3-0.6 pts
22Macao81.3+1.3 pts
23Bulgaria81.2+0.6 pts
24Belgium80.8+3.5 pts
25Ukraine80.2+3.2 pts
26Cyprus79.8+11.5 pts
27Slovenia79.3-0.2 pts
28Ireland77.5-0 pts
29Lithuania76.5+2.5 pts
30Hong Kong72.9+2.6 pts
31Estonia72.1-0.9 pts
32Croatia71.4+1.8 pts
33Iceland71.3-3.4 pts
34Peru71.2-2 pts
35Saudi Arabia70.7+6.8 pts
36Poland70.6+0.8 pts
37Sweden70.4+2.1 pts
38Canada70.3+1 pts
39Germany68.5+0.5 pts
40Czechia67.7+0.2 pts
41Serbia66.5+4.3 pts
42Iran66.4-1.6 pts
43France65.8+1.1 pts
44Mongolia64.4-0.8 pts
45Portugal64.2+1 pts
46Georgia63.5+5.3 pts
47Japan63.3+0.8 pts
48Italy62.7+1.3 pts
49Switzerland62.5+1.3 pts
50Montenegro60.9+1.7 pts
51Israel60.3-1.1 pts
52Dominican Republic59.9+5.4 pts
53Uruguay59.8+0.1 pts
54United Kingdom59.6+1.5 pts
55Colombia58.4+1.3 pts
56Albania58-0.5 pts
57Armenia55.5+1.2 pts
58Kuwait54.9-4.3 pts
59Bosnia and Herzegovina54.5-2.4 pts
60Costa Rica54.4+2.8 pts
61Malta54.1+4.9 pts
62Moldova51.9-0.9 pts
63Hungary51.4+0.6 pts
64China51.1+1.8 pts
65Barbados51-1 pts
66Brazil50.7+1.8 pts
67Romania50.5+0.6 pts
68Kazakhstan50+3.9 pts
69Algeria49.2+5.3 pts
70Slovakia49.1-1.2 pts
71Bahrain48.7+2 pts
72Thailand47.4-1.9 pts
73Palestine45.5+0.1 pts
74Lebanon44.2+1.7 pts
75Oman43.6-3.2 pts
76North Macedonia43.5n/a
77Malaysia42.3-3.1 pts
78Seychelles42.2+16.6 pts
79Kyrgyzstan41.6-3 pts
80Cuba41.2+6.1 pts
81Mexico40.3+1.7 pts
82Mauritius39.7+1.3 pts
83Indonesia36+1.1 pts
84Liechtenstein35.6+0.6 pts
85Philippines33.7-4.7 pts
86Morocco33.5+1.4 pts
87Maldives33.3n/a
88Egypt33.1+1.2 pts
89Brunei31.2+2.6 pts
90Tunisia30.9-0.3 pts
91Tajikistan30.2+1.7 pts
92Jordan28.6-5.4 pts
93Azerbaijan28.5+1.2 pts
94India27.9+0.6 pts
95El Salvador27.6+0.5 pts
96Vietnam26-3.1 pts
97Saint Vincent and the Grenadines25.7+2.1 pts
98Belize24.7+0.3 pts
99Cape Verde24.6+0.9 pts
100Honduras24.6+3.6 pts
101Namibia22.5+1 pts
102Bermuda21.8n/a
103Botswana21.5-1.2 pts
104South Africa21.1+2.2 pts
105Saint Lucia20.7+0.9 pts
106Luxembourg19.6-0.3 pts
107Comoros18.8n/a
108Bangladesh18.5+1.1 pts
109Sri Lanka17.20 pts
110Qatar16.8+2 pts
111Ghana16.2+0.6 pts
112Andorra15.7+0.5 pts
113Laos15.4-1.7 pts
114Bhutan14.8n/a
115Samoa13.3n/a
116Cameroon13+0.3 pts
117Cambodia12.5n/a
118Togo12.3+0.2 pts
119Republic of the Congo12.1n/a
120Turks and Caicos Islands11.8+0.8 pts
121Kenya11.8+0.2 pts
122Nepal11.4+0.3 pts
123Senegal11.3+0.5 pts
124Benin11.3-0.6 pts
125Lesotho10.3n/a
126Sint Maarten9.9n/a
127Côte d’Ivoire9.5+0.6 pts
128Uzbekistan8.6+0.3 pts
129Pakistan8.6+0.3 pts
130Rwanda7.3-0.2 pts
131Mozambique7.2-0.1 pts
132Burkina Faso5.8+0.4 pts
133Mauritania5.2-0.4 pts
134Madagascar5.1+0.4 pts
135Tanzania4.8+1.1 pts
136Burundi4.3+0.3 pts
137Niger3.7+0.2 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Students enrolled in tertiary education (ISCED levels 5 to 8), of any age, as a percentage of the population in the five-year age group that follows the official secondary school leaving age. UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

A gross ratio: students outside the reference ages and students from abroad are counted, so it can exceed 100%. It counts students, not graduates; for degree holders in the United States see bachelors_degree_share.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the countries are compared on one definition. 66 countries with data in other periods have no value for 2017 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). School enrollment, tertiary, % gross (SE.TER.ENRR). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. UIS does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2026). School enrollment, tertiary, % gross (SE.TER.ENRR) (Countries by tertiary education gross enrolment ratio, 2017) [Data set]. World Bank, World Development Indicators. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR

MLA 9

School enrollment, tertiary, % gross (SE.TER.ENRR), Countries by tertiary education gross enrolment ratio, 2017. UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 8 Oct. 2026, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. World Bank, World Development Indicators, https://data.worldbank.org. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/tertiary-enrolment-ratio/countries?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. 2026. School enrollment, tertiary, % gross (SE.TER.ENRR). Countries by tertiary education gross enrolment ratio, 2017. Dataset. Distributed by World Bank, World Development Indicators. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/tertiary-enrolment-ratio/countries?period=2017.

Harvard

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) School enrollment, tertiary, % gross (SE.TER.ENRR), Countries by tertiary education gross enrolment ratio, 2017 [Dataset]. Via World Bank, World Development Indicators. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/tertiary-enrolment-ratio/countries?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{unesco_countries_by_tertiary_education_2017,
  author = {{UNESCO Institute for Statistics}},
  title = {{School enrollment, tertiary, \% gross (SE.TER.ENRR): Countries by tertiary education gross enrolment ratio, 2017}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  publisher = {World Bank, World Development Indicators},
  url = {https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Retrieved through World Bank, World Development Indicators (https://data.worldbank.org). Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/tertiary-enrolment-ratio/countries?period=2017. Publisher attribution: Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). School enrollment, tertiary, \% gross (SE.TER.ENRR). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. UIS does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - UNESCO Institute for Statistics
TI  - School enrollment, tertiary, % gross (SE.TER.ENRR): Countries by tertiary education gross enrolment ratio, 2017
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/08
PB  - World Bank, World Development Indicators
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/tertiary-enrolment-ratio/countries?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Retrieved through World Bank, World Development Indicators (https://data.worldbank.org).
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/tertiary-enrolment-ratio/countries?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). School enrollment, tertiary, % gross (SE.TER.ENRR). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. UIS does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.
ER  -
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Questions

Which country has the highest tertiary education gross enrolment ratio?

Greece, with 135.3% in 2017, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Which country has the lowest tertiary education gross enrolment ratio?

Niger, with 3.7% in 2017.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, School enrollment, tertiary, % gross (SE.TER.ENRR). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 66 countries have no value for 2017 and are not ranked.

Tertiary education gross enrolment ratio: other rankings

Countries: more rankings