Educational attainment of the population, 1 October 2008

The proportion of the population aged 16 and over who have attained a tertiary education continues to grow. In 2008, almost 27 per cent of the population in Norway had completed an education at the tertiary level of education - an increase by five percentage points since 2000. The proportion holding a tertiary education is expected to further increase in the future, as there is a growing trend for more young people to attain a tertiary education - females in particular. The female proportion achieving a higher education among 25 to 29-year-olds reached 50 per cent for the first time in 2008. The male proportion was close to 32 per cent. The highest proportion with a tertiary education among men is in the 30 to 39-year-old age group, where approximately 35 per cent have attained this level of education.

Up to 2001, a higher proportion of men than women had attained an education at tertiary level. Since 2001, a larger proportion of women than men have attained a tertiary education.

At least one out of five have a higher education in all counties

In Hedmark and Oppland, 20 per cent of the population have attained a tertiary education, and they are the two counties with the lowest proportions. At the other end of the scale, Oslo has the highest proportion, with 43 per cent, followed by Akershus where almost 32 per cent have attained an education at this level. In all counties, a higher proportion of women than men have attained a tertiary level of education.

Less than 30 per cent have less than upper secondary education

As the proportion of the population aged 16 who have attained a tertiary education is increasing, the proportion with less than upper secondary education has fallen below 30 per cent for the first time.

In the OECD’s publication Education at a Glance 2008 almost 21 per cent of the population in Norway aged 25 to 64 years had attained less than upper secondary education, and 33 per cent attained a tertiary education in 2006. Iceland is the only Nordic country to have a higher proportion of the population with less than upper secondary education. Denmark and Finland both have larger proportions of the population with a tertiary level of education; 36 and 35 per cent respectively. Sweden and Iceland have smaller proportions with a tertiary education than Norway; 31 and 30 per cent respectively.

The OECD will publish Education at Glance 2009 on 8 September 2009.

Tables:

• Table 1 Population 16 years and over, by level of education, gender and county of residence. 2008
• Table 2 Population 16 years and over, by level of education and municipality of residence. 2008
• Table 3 Population 16 years and over, by level of education, gender and age. 2008. Per cent
• Table 4 Population 16 years and over, by level of education and field of education. 2008