EU countries by tertiary education gross enrolment ratio
Greece had the highest tertiary education gross enrolment ratio of 27 EU countries in 2020, at 143.7%. Luxembourg had the lowest, at 20%. The median was 74.2%. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
All EU countries, 2020
Full ranking
| Rank | EU countries | 2020 (%) | Change on 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greece | 143.7 | -0.3 pts |
| 2 | Cyprus | 102.4 | +8.5 pts |
| 3 | Finland | 96.5 | +1.9 pts |
| 4 | Latvia | 94.5 | -0.4 pts |
| 5 | Spain | 91.6 | +0.1 pts |
| 6 | Austria | 88.7 | +2.4 pts |
| 7 | Bulgaria | 85.5 | +0.8 pts |
| 8 | Netherlands | 85.3 | |
| 9 | Denmark | 82.7 | +1 pts |
| 10 | Belgium | 79.5 | +0.2 pts |
| 11 | Sweden | 79.1 | +4 pts |
| 12 | Slovenia | 75.8 | -0.7 pts |
| 13 | Croatia | 74.7 | +0.7 pts |
| 14 | Ireland | 74.2 | -0.2 pts |
| 15 | Lithuania | 73.6 | -1.5 pts |
| 16 | Germany | 72.4 | -0.3 pts |
| 17 | Estonia | 72 | -0.7 pts |
| 18 | Poland | 71 | +0.1 pts |
| 19 | France | 68.9 | +1.1 pts |
| 20 | Italy | 68.7 | +3 pts |
| 21 | Portugal | 68.2 | +2.1 pts |
| 22 | Czechia | 67.2 | +0.3 pts |
| 23 | Malta | 61.5 | +3 pts |
| 24 | Hungary | 56.6 | +2.4 pts |
| 25 | Romania | 53.5 | +1 pts |
| 26 | Slovakia | 48.4 | +0.2 pts |
| 27 | Luxembourg | 20 | +0.6 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 143.7% in 2020, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Which EU country has the lowest tertiary education gross enrolment ratio?
Luxembourg, with 20% in 2020.
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.