The percentage of 25-34-year-olds with a higher education diploma in Belgium in 2025 is estimated at 52.7%, a slight increase compared to the year before. This increase seems to be largely driven by women: in 2025, 60.3% of women aged 25-34 have a higher education diploma, compared to 45.2% of men. Even more strikingly, the gender gap keeps widening: it was 5.9 percentage points in 2000 and reaches 15.1 points in 2025. This is what emerged from the latest results on the level of education published by Statbel, the Belgian statistical office. This percentage is one of the indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for quality education. This figure is calculated at international level based on the Labour Force Survey.

In the early 2000s, just over a third of 25-34-year-olds had a higher education diploma. Today, this is more than one in two and the 45% target set by the United Nations for 2030 has already been reached since 2017.

As in recent years, this increase seems to be largely driven by women, who had already crossed this threshold in 2004. In 2025, 60.3% of women aged 25-34 have a higher education diploma, compared to 45.2% of men. Even more strikingly, the gender gap keeps widening: it was 5.9 percentage points in 2000 and reaches 15.1 points in 2025.

Regional disparities are also significant. Brussels has the highest rate of higher education graduates among 25-34-year-olds, with 63.5% in 2025. In Flanders, this figure is 10 points lower (53.5%), while in Wallonia it drops to 46.3%. In each of the three regions, the gap between men and women continues to widen, reaching 16.2 percentage points in Wallonia.

37.5% of those aged 15 and over have a higher education diploma

Beyond young adults, examining the entire population aged 15 and over offers a broader perspective on the rise in the level of education. The evolution of diploma levels over nearly four decades shows a strong upward trend in the level of education in Belgium. In 1987, 38.7% of the population aged 15 and over had not completed primary education or held any qualifications. By 2025, that share had fallen to 8.5%.

For the first time, Belgium now has slightly more people with a higher education diploma (37.5%) than those with an upper secondary education diploma as their highest level of education (37.3%). With this development, higher education ranks first for the first time as the most commonly held qualification among the population aged 15 and over.