Not only young people, but also many adults in Belgium and the EU are starting (again) education in September. Statbel looked at how many 25-69-year-olds attended formal education and training[1] and compared the Belgian figures with those of other European Union Member States[2].
6.6% of Belgians aged 25-69 attended formal education or training in 2022. This puts Belgium slightly above the European average of 5.7%. The Czech Republic and Romania have the lowest scores, below 2%. Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Ireland register figures of 10% or more of citizens aged 25-69 who attended education or training.
In all EU countries except for Cyprus, women attended on average more formal education and training than men in 2022. With a percentage of 8.4%, Belgian women aged 25-69 score well higher than the European female average of 6.4% and do better than Belgian men (4.8%) by 3.6 percentage points. The latter are below the European male average (5.1%).
The gender gap in formal education and training is the largest in Sweden: 22.7% of women aged 25-69 attended formal education and training in 2022 compared to 15.7% of men, a difference of 7 percentage points.
Belgians aged 35 and over attend more formal education and training than citizens in other EU countries
Belgians aged 35 and over attend on average more formal education and training than other EU citizens.
However, the age group 25-34 in Belgium (13.4%) is below the EU average (16.0%). In Sweden (33.7%), Finland (31.8%), Denmark (28.6%) and Germany (24.8%), the 25-34-year-olds register remarkably high scores in terms of formal education and training.
Tertiary education
In all EU countries except for Finland, people with a higher education diploma attended on average more formal education and training in 2022, even after graduation. For the EU, the figure is 9.2% for highly-skilled people versus 5.7% for the EU average. The gap is slightly larger in Belgium: 10.3% for highly-skilled people versus 6.6% for the Belgian average.
Again, Sweden scored the highest with a participation rate of 22.3% for highly-skilled people, while Romania (3.3%) and Slovenia (3.6%) lag behind.
About these figures
Data on formal education and training come from the Adult Education Survey (EU-AES). These figures are collected by Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, and sent to the European statistical office Eurostat, as do the other national statistical offices in the EU Member States.
[1]Formal education and training is education that is recognised by the ministry of education and usually leads to a diploma or certificate such as a master's degree or a training course in adult education. So as far as the 25-69-year-old group is concerned, this mainly involves adult education, bachelor’s and master’s programmes.
[2]Source Eurostat: Participation rate in education and training, last 12 months, Adult Education Survey, Figures for 2022.
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/product/view/trng_aes_100?category=educ.educ_part.trng.trng_aes_12m.trng_aes_12m0