EU countries by tertiary education gross enrolment ratio
Greece had the highest tertiary education gross enrolment ratio of 27 EU countries in 2018, at 141%. Luxembourg had the lowest, at 19.4%. The median was 73.4%. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
All EU countries, 2018
Full ranking
| Rank | EU countries | 2018 (%) | Change on 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greece | 141 | +5.6 pts |
| 2 | Latvia | 93 | +5 pts |
| 3 | Spain | 92.5 | +0.4 pts |
| 4 | Finland | 92.4 | +1.7 pts |
| 5 | Cyprus | 86.6 | +6.8 pts |
| 6 | Austria | 85.9 | +2 pts |
| 7 | Netherlands | 83.7 | +0.5 pts |
| 8 | Bulgaria | 83.1 | +1.9 pts |
| 9 | Denmark | 81.1 | -0.2 pts |
| 10 | Belgium | 79.1 | -1.7 pts |
| 11 | Lithuania | 77.4 | +0.8 pts |
| 12 | Slovenia | 77.3 | -2 pts |
| 13 | Ireland | 76.8 | -0.8 pts |
| 14 | Sweden | 73.4 | +3 pts |
| 15 | Croatia | 72.9 | +1.5 pts |
| 16 | Estonia | 72.1 | -0.1 pts |
| 17 | Poland | 71 | +0.4 pts |
| 18 | Germany | 69.2 | +0.7 pts |
| 19 | France | 67.5 | +1.7 pts |
| 20 | Czechia | 66.8 | -0.9 pts |
| 21 | Portugal | 65.1 | +0.9 pts |
| 22 | Italy | 64.5 | +1.8 pts |
| 23 | Malta | 57.8 | +3.8 pts |
| 24 | Hungary | 52.6 | +1.2 pts |
| 25 | Romania | 52 | +1.5 pts |
| 26 | Slovakia | 47.8 | -1.3 pts |
| 27 | Luxembourg | 19.4 | -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 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 141% in 2018, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Which EU country has the lowest tertiary education gross enrolment ratio?
Luxembourg, with 19.4% in 2018.
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.