After the new school year started last week in French-speaking education, this week it is the turn of Dutch-speaking education. Statbel looked at how many 20-24-year-olds have at least an upper secondary education diploma and compared the Belgian figures with those of other European Union Member States[1].
88.4% of Belgians aged 20-24 had at least a diploma of upper secondary education in 2023. This puts Belgium well above the European average of 84.1%.
Spain, Denmark and Germany have the lowest scores, below 80%. Croatia, Greece and Ireland record percentages of 95% or more of citizens aged 20-24 who have successfully completed at least upper secondary education.
With a percentage of 91.6%, Belgian women aged 20-24 score a lot higher (6.4 percentage points (ppt)) than men in the same age group (85.2%). The same applies to the European average, with a proportion of 86.7% for women and 81.6% for men. However, the European average difference between men and women is less pronounced (5.1 ppt). Only in Denmark, Malta, Luxembourg, Italy, Spain and Germany is the gender gap even wider than in Belgium.
Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia are the only countries in the EU where more men than women aged 20-24 have at least an upper secondary education diploma.
About these figures
Data on educational attainment come from the Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS). The figures for Belgium are supplied to the European statistical office Eurostat by Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, and for the other EU countries by their national statistical offices.
[1] Source Eurostat: Population by educational attainment level, sex and age (%) - main indicators - Labour Force Survey data (EU-LFS) Figures for 2023. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/edat_lfse_03__custom_12703501/default/table?lang=en