EU-27 (2025)
88.1
% of population (25–64, tertiary educated)
+0.3pp YoY
Highest
92.3
Bulgaria
Lowest
82.7
Greece
Countries
27
EU member states

Data

EU Employment Rate by Education Level by Country (2025) — source data. Eurostat.
Country % of population (25–64, tertiary educated) YoY Change
Bulgaria 92.3 +1.1pp
Romania 92 +0.5pp
Hungary 91.9 unchanged
Poland 91.9 +0.3pp
Slovakia 91.4 +0.9pp
Portugal 91.1 +0.4pp
Lithuania 90.9 +0.4pp
Slovenia 90.8 -0.1pp
Malta 90.7 -0.1pp
Netherlands 90.3 -0.1pp
Croatia 90.1 +0.7pp
Sweden 89.5 +0.1pp
Estonia 89 -0.2pp
Czechia 88.8 +0.2pp
Latvia 88.5 +0.5pp
Finland 88.4 +0.2pp
Germany 88.2 -0.2pp
Ireland 88 +0.1pp
Belgium 87.7 -0.2pp
France 87.6 +0.2pp
Denmark 87.4 -1pp
Cyprus 87.3 +1.2pp
Austria 87.1 +0.7pp
Luxembourg 86.2 -0.1pp
Italy 85.3 +0.6pp
Spain 85.1 +0.8pp
Greece 82.7 +1.3pp

About this Dataset

The EU-27 aggregate stood at 88.1 % of population (25–64, tertiary educated) in 2025. The EU-27 aggregate changed by +0.3pp year-on-year. Across the 27 member states covered, Bulgaria recorded the highest reading at 92.3, while Greece posted the lowest at 82.7 — a within-EU spread of 9.6 percentage points.

Data sourced from Eurostat via SDMX REST API. All values are harmonised across member states using a consistent methodology to ensure cross-country comparability.

Coverage spans 2005 through 2025, updated annually. The chart above shows the EU-27 aggregate trend; the table below ranks all member states by their latest reported value.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page tracks employment rates for tertiary-educated workers across EU member states. Quantify the returns to education in labour market access. It is published by Eurostat, covers EU-27 member states, and is updated annually.

The most recent observation covers 2025. Eurostat typically publishes this series with a lag of several months after the reference period. Updated annually.

Structural differences in labour market institutions, collective bargaining coverage, employment protection legislation, sectoral composition, and social security system design drive divergence across member states. Bulgaria (92.3) and Greece (82.7) represent the extremes of a 9.6-point spread within the bloc.