Belgium achieved EU2020 target: 47.5 % of people aged 30 to 34 have a higher education diploma

Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, publishes today the first annual results of the Labour Force Survey for 2018. The survey provides us with information on the characteristics of the population in terms of training, among others. In 2018, Belgium achieved two targets of the EU2020 indicators. In more detail:

• Higher education: 47.5 % of people aged 30 to 34 have a higher education diploma. // EU2020 target: 47 % or more
• This percentage is 54.4 % for women and 40.6 % for men.
• 8.6 % of young people aged between 18 and 24 have left school early with no upper secondary education diploma. // EU2020 target: 9.5 % or less
• The proportion of young people aged between 15 and 24 not in education, employment or training (NEET indicator) amounts to 9.2 %. // EEU2020 target: 8.2 % or less

EU2020 target: Tertiary educational attainment

The goal of the EU2020 strategy that 47 % of people aged between 30 and 34 have a higher education diploma is in Belgium in 2018 achieved. This is now the case for 47.5 % of them. This percentage was still 45.9 % in 2017.

Belgium is well above the European average, which stood at 39.9 % in 2017. Women perform much better than men in this area. In Belgium, 54.4 % of women aged between 30 and 34 have a higher education diploma, compared to 40.6 % of men of the same age group.

Among the total population aged 15 and over, 32.7 % have a higher education diploma.

EU2020 target: Early school leaving

Another goal is to reduce the share of early school leavers to less than 9.5 %. This goal has been achieved in Belgium since 2016. In Belgium, the proportion of people aged between 18 and 24 who don't have an upper secondary education diploma and who are no longer in any kind of education or training amounts to 8.6 % in 2018. In 2017, it amounted to 8.9 %. Once again, women perform better than men, with a school dropout rate of 6.5 % against 10.6 % for men.

EU2020 target: Not in education, employment or training

Finally, the third goal is to reduce the share of young people aged between 15 and 24 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET indicator) to a maximum of 8.2 %. This rate is 9.2 % in 2018, or 0.1 percentage point lower than in 2017.

Among these young people, only 13.4 % have a higher education diploma, and only 34.8 % are actively looking for a job and available on the labour market.