Weekly Bulletin issue no. 51-52, 1996

One out of five has higher education

The percentage of people in Norway with higher education passed the 20 per cent mark last year. Of all counties, Oslo had the highest level of education, while Hedmark and Oppland had the lowest percentages.

Since 1986, Troms, Finnmark and Oslo have had the largest increase in the percentage of the population with higher education (college or university). In the two northernmost counties, the percentage has increased by seven percentage points, while the increase in Oslo is nine percentage points. On a nation-wide basis, the percentage of persons with higher education has jumped six percentage points during the same period, from 14 to 20 per cent. In 1995, a total of 680,000 persons had higher education, an increase of 220,000 since 1986.

Among the municipalities (local governments), Bærum and Asker outside Oslo had the highest level of education. Respectively 41 and 39 per cent of the population had higher education, followed by Oslo with 33 per cent. Flakstad, Torsken and Værøy were the only municipalities with percentages under eight per cent. Of the 20 municipalities with the highest percentages, seven were in Akershus (Greater Oslo), while eight of the 20 municipalities with the lowest level of education are from Nordland in northern Norway.

New Statistics

Education Statistics. Educational level of the population, 1 October 1995. Statistics are published annually in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics. More information: Terje Risberg, tel. +47 62 88 52 68, e-mail: rit@ssb.no or Anne Bente Skara, tel. +47 62 88 52 79, e-mail: bes@ssb.no.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 51-52, 1996