17.7 years at school in Norway, 16.4 years in the OECD

The figures for Norway in 1990 were 16 years of school expectancy for a five-year old, while the OECD mean was 15.1 years. An important explanation for the increase in years of school expectancy for Norway is Reform-97. With Reform-97 the six-year olds were enrolled in primary school. Earlier the age of primary school enrollment was seven years.

School expectancy for five-year old Norwegian girls and boys were respectively 18.1 and 17.2 years in 1998. School expectancy for Norwegian boys was closer to the OECD mean than Norwegian girls. School expectancy for Norwegian girls was higher than the OECD mean in 1998.

Expected years of tertiary education for a 17-year old Norwegian was three years. This is 0.7 years above the OECD mean. For Denmark and Sweden excpected years of tertiary education were some lower than Norway, while Finland was at the top in the OECD with 3.8 years.

Expected years of tertiary education was 3.4 years for women and 2.5 years for men. For Norwegian women, this was much higher than the OECD mean than it was for Norwegian men.

Higher educational attainment in Norway than in the OECD

25.8 per cent of the Norwegian population aged 25 to 64 years have completed tertiary education. The OECD mean was 23 per cent. Canada had the highest percentage with 38.8 per cent. Portugal had the lowest with 9.2 per cent. Finland and Sweden had a higher percentage than Norway, while Denmark was slightly lower than Norway.

About 56 per cent of the Norwegian population aged 25 to 64 years have completed at least upper secondary education. The OECD mean was 59.9 per cent. The Czech Republic was at the top with 74.9 per cent. Denmark, Finland and Sweden had a slightly lower percentage of the population which had completed at least secondary education than Norway.

Almost 44 per cent of the population aged 25 to 64 years in the OECD had not completed more than primary and lower secondary education. Corresponding figures for Norway were 16.9 per cent. In Denmark, Finland and Sweden 21.5; 31.7 and 23.9 per cent respectively.

... in all age groups ...

93 per cent of all Norwegians aged 25 to 34 years have completed at least upper secondary education. Norway, together with Japan, has the highest percentage in all OECD countries in this age group. The OECD mean is 72 per cent. 88 per cent in the group aged 35 to 44 years and 78 per cent in the group aged 45 to 54 years have completed at least upper secondary education in Norway. The percentage in the group aged 55 to 64 years is 65 per cent.

When it comes to completion of tertiary education for different age groups, the tendency is the same in Norway. A higher percentage of the Norwegian population has completed tertiary education than for the OECD in general.

... and women in particular

In Norway there are a lot more men than women who have completed at least upper secondary education in the age group 55 to 64 years. The figures are more even in the other age groups.

On the other side, the percentage of Norwegian women aged 25 to 44 years who have completed at least tertiary education is higher than the respective figures for Norwegian men. The female numbers are especially strong in the group aged 25 to 34 years. Here, 31 per cent of the women have completed at least tertiary education, while the same figure for Norwegian men in this age group is 24 per cent.

Norway is far above the OECD mean in the percentage of women that have attained at least upper secondary and tertiary education. The percentage is especially high at the tertiary level compared to the OECD mean. One out of four Norwegian women have completed at least education at this level, while the same figures for the OECD is about one out of ten. Only the USA have a higher percentage of women who have completed at least tertiary education.

The statistics is a part of the annual publication Education at a Glance. The OECD is the publisher of Education at a Glance.

 

Tables

• Table 1 Distribution of the population 25 to 64 years of age by level of educational attainment
• Table 2 Percentage of the population that has attained at least upper secondary education, by age group
• Table 3 Percentage of the population that has attained a specific level of education, by age group and gender
• Table 4 School expectancy (in years) under current conditions
• Table 5 Expected years of tertiary education for all 17-year olds