EU countries by tertiary education gross enrolment ratio
Greece had the highest tertiary education gross enrolment ratio of 27 EU countries in 2016, at 131.4%. Luxembourg had the lowest, at 19.9%. The median was 69.9%. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
All EU countries, 2016
Full ranking
| Rank | EU countries | 2016 (%) | Change on 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greece | 131.4 | |
| 2 | Spain | 89.8 | +1.3 pts |
| 3 | Finland | 89.3 | -0.3 pts |
| 4 | Austria | 82.8 | +0.6 pts |
| 5 | Denmark | 82.2 | -1.1 pts |
| 6 | Bulgaria | 80.6 | +2.3 pts |
| 7 | Latvia | 80.6 | +6.3 pts |
| 8 | Netherlands | 79.8 | -0.3 pts |
| 9 | Slovenia | 79.5 | -2.7 pts |
| 10 | Ireland | 77.6 | +0.3 pts |
| 11 | Belgium | 77.2 | +0.8 pts |
| 12 | Lithuania | 74.1 | +2 pts |
| 13 | Estonia | 73 | -1.5 pts |
| 14 | Poland | 69.9 | +0.5 pts |
| 15 | Croatia | 69.6 | +1.1 pts |
| 16 | Cyprus | 68.4 | +8.5 pts |
| 17 | Sweden | 68.3 | +1.9 pts |
| 18 | Germany | 67.9 | -0.3 pts |
| 19 | Czechia | 67.5 | +0.3 pts |
| 20 | France | 64.7 | +1.9 pts |
| 21 | Portugal | 63.2 | +1.4 pts |
| 22 | Italy | 61.4 | +0.4 pts |
| 23 | Hungary | 50.7 | -0.2 pts |
| 24 | Slovakia | 50.3 | -2.4 pts |
| 25 | Romania | 49.9 | +0.6 pts |
| 26 | Malta | 49.2 | +1.2 pts |
| 27 | Luxembourg | 19.9 | -0.4 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 EU countries are compared on one definition. 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.Use this data in your AI agent
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Rank EU countries by tertiary education gross enrolment ratio using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"tertiary_enrolment_gross","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=tertiary_enrolment_gross&level=country&within=European%20Union%20(27)&limit=10Questions
Which EU country has the highest tertiary education gross enrolment ratio?
Greece, with 131.4% in 2016, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Which EU country has the lowest tertiary education gross enrolment ratio?
Luxembourg, with 19.9% in 2016.
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.