Higher education continues to rise

In 2017, about half of the population in Oslo aged 16 years and older had a higher education, and 32 per cent in the county of Troms. In both counties, the proportion with a higher education increased by 3.2 percentage points since 2013, according to updated figures from educational attainment of the population.

Four counties were above the national average (33.4 per cent) for the population aged 16 years and over with a higher education. About half of the population in Oslo had attained a higher education (50.7), followed by Akershus (38.1), Sør-Trøndelag (35.7) and Hordaland (34.3).

Just below the national average were Troms and Rogaland with 32 per cent.

Source: Statistics Norway. Map data: Norwegian Mapping Authority.

Higher level of education among women and immigrants

Many women aged 16 years and older have attained a higher education. Thirty-seven per cent had completed an education at this level in 2017, and 35 per cent had attained an upper secondary education. For men aged 16 years and older, the situation was the opposite. Forty per cent of men had attained an upper secondary education and 30 per cent had a higher education.

Immigrants as a population have also attained a higher level of education than the total population. A major reason for this is that the immigrant population is younger. The labour immigration in the last decade has pushed up the proportion of immigrants with a long higher education – particularly in the period 2006-2015. The proportion of immigrants with a short higher education has been almost unchanged for the last 20 years.

Among norwegian-born to immigrant parents and among the rest of the population, there has been a steady increase in the proportion of the population aged 16 years and older who have attained both short and long higher education.

Norwegian-born to immigrant parents as a population is a younger group of people. Almost 80 per cent of this population is in the age group 0-19, and most have therefore not completed their higher education yet.