Education and training statistics at regional level

This article forms part of the Eurostat regional yearbook – 2026, an annual flagship publication. It provides a detailed picture relating to a broad range of statistical topics across the regions of the EU, EFTA and candidate countries. A short reading guide is provided in the introductory chapter, including an explanation of how to interpret the maps.

Highlights

Alongside the provision of health care, public spending on education is widely regarded as one of the most important investments in human capital. Education can play a key role in advancing socio-economic progress, especially in an increasingly globalised world where a highly skilled workforce has the potential to strengthen productivity, foster innovation and enhance competitiveness.

This chapter presents data following the common progression of pupils and students through different levels of the education system (according to the International standard classification of education (ISCED); see box below for more details), before looking at educational attainment levels and the transition from education into work. Administrative data on the participation of pupils and students in various levels of education generally refer to 2024, while the latest information from other datasets (surveys) generally concerns 2025.

The infographic above presents data for the 10 NUTS level 2 regions across the EU with the highest shares of people aged 25 to 34 with a tertiary level of educational attainment. In 2025, several of these were capital regions. For example, the share reached 77.4% in Sostinės regionas (Lithuania), 72.7% in Ile-de-France (France), 70.4% in Eastern and Midland (Ireland) and 69.6% in Warszawski stołeczny (Poland).

Enrolments

In 2024, there were an estimated 94.7 million pupils and students enrolled across the EU in all levels of education from pre-primary to tertiary (as covered by ISCED levels 02 to 8).

Participation rates in early childhood education

Research has shown that early experiences of children often play a critical role in long-term development. Early childhood education and care programmes, which are intentionally designed to support children’s cognitive, language, physical and socio-emotional development, are considered educational in the ISCED classification (ISCED level 0, early childhood education) ^[1].

Early childhood education programmes are typically designed to introduce young children to organised instruction outside of the family context. Programmes have an intentional education component and target children below the age of entry into primary education (ISCED level 1). Early childhood education programmes constitute the first level of education and training systems and play a key role in redressing ‘unequal’ life chances, tackling inequalities by preventing the formation of early skills gaps.

Based on the latest available data, there were an estimated 15.6 million children (of any age) enrolled in early childhood education across the EU in 2024 (data for Belgium, Greece, Italy and Malta only cover pre-primary education). Map 1 shows a more detailed picture for 198 NUTS level 2 regions, it covers pupils between the age of 3 and the starting age of compulsory education at primary level. While the participation rate in early childhood education averaged 94.4% across the whole of the EU, there were considerable differences in regional rates. The highest rates were generally recorded in western regions of the EU and lower rates across several eastern regions. Capital regions had higher participation rates than their respective national averages in several EU countries, including Belgium, Germany, Croatia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. By contrast, capital regions in countries such as Czechia, Italy, Portugal or Romania recorded below-average rates.

In 2024, there were 20 regions across the EU where practically every child (100.0%) between the age of 3 and the age for starting compulsory primary education participated in early childhood education

By 2024, the share of children between the age of 3 and the starting age for compulsory primary education participating in early childhood education had already reached the EU’s strategic target of 96.0% in exactly half of all EU regions for which data are available (99 out of 198 regions) – see Map 1. These 99 regions, which had already met or exceeded the 2030 target were mainly concentrated in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Spain, France, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Portugal and Sweden (for each of these countries, more than half of all regions had reached this level); Luxembourg had also achieved the policy target of 96.0%.

At the upper end of the distribution, 20 EU regions recorded participation rates of 100.0% in early childhood education. Almost half of these were located in France (9 regions), while a further five were in neighbouring Belgium. Across the EU, there were 5 capital regions with universal enrolment of young children in early childhood education, namely Région de Bruxelles-Capitale / Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (Belgium), Ile-de-France (France), Grad Zagreb (Croatia), Budapest (Hungary) and Warszawski stołeczny (Poland). As such, it is interesting to note that while some of the lowest participation rates were observed in eastern EU countries, 3 of the 5 capital regions with universal enrolment were also located in the same group of countries.

In 2024, the share of young children participating in early childhood education was below 85.0% in 17 of the 198 regions for which data are available. These regions with relatively low participation rates were mainly concentrated in eastern EU countries, including all 8 regions of Romania, 2 regions from each of Czechia and Slovakia, as well as a single region from Croatia. This group also included the French island regions of Mayotte and Corse, as well as a single region from each of Austria and Portugal. At the lower end of the distribution, there were 5 EU regions where the participation rate in early childhood education was below 75.0%:

• 4 of these were located in Romania – Nord-Est recorded the lowest share in the EU (70.6%), while the remaining regions included the capital of Bucureşti-Ilfov, Sud-Muntenia and Sud-Est
• the only other region below this level was Východné Slovensko in Slovakia.

Map 1: Participation rates in early childhood education
Source: Eurostat (educ_uoe_enra22)

Participation in tertiary education

The number of people enrolling in tertiary education across the EU has risen in recent decades, reflecting several factors, such as:

• demographic patterns
• changes in labour force participation (particularly for women)
• increased demand from employers for tertiary education qualifications (for jobs that previously required a secondary level of education)
• an increased awareness of the benefits of tertiary education
• access to student finance, scholarships and other benefits
• different patterns of learning mobility (within and from outside of the EU)
• an increased demand for longer tertiary education (such as the extension from a bachelor’s degree to master’s or doctoral (PhD) studies)
• an increasing share of adults participating in lifelong learning.

Looking ahead, developments in artificial intelligence (AI) may also influence enrolment patterns across tertiary education. On the one hand, AI is likely to increase demand for advanced digital, analytical and interdisciplinary skills, which could encourage higher participation in tertiary studies. On the other hand, as AI automates a growing share of routine tasks, employers may place less emphasis on traditional degree-based qualifications for some roles, instead prioritising specific, verifiable skills and competencies.

In 2024, there were 19.1 million tertiary education students enrolled across the EU

There were approximately 19.1 million students enrolled in the EU’s tertiary education institutions in 2024. As such, tertiary students accounted for 1 in 5 (20.1%) of the total number of pupils and students enrolled within the EU’s education system. A majority of the students enrolled in the tertiary education sector were female (54.9% of the total).

In 2024, 11.2 million EU students were enrolled in bachelor’s programmes. This figure was approximately twice as high as the count of students enrolled in master’s programmes (5.6 million). The other 2 types of tertiary programmes had fewer students: 1.5 million enrolled in short-cycle programmes (either academic or vocational) and 0.7 million in doctoral programmes. As noted above, females made up the majority of students enrolled in tertiary education. This gender gap was particularly apparent among students studying for a master’s degree (where 58.6% were female) and somewhat smaller among students studying for a bachelor’s degree (where 54.3% were female). By contrast, males accounted for a small majority of the students pursuing a short-cycle tertiary education qualification (51.5%) and a doctoral degree (50.3%).

The highest absolute numbers of tertiary students were recorded in predominantly urban regions from some of the most populous EU countries. In 2024, the French capital region of Ile-de-France (791 400 students) and the German region of Nordrhein-Westfalen (772 100 students; NUTS level 1) were the only regions within the EU to record more than 0.5 million tertiary students enrolled. A further 13 regions had between 250 000 and 500 000 tertiary students enrolled:

• 4 regions in Spain – the capital region of Comunidad de Madrid, Cataluña, Andalucía and Comunitat Valenciana
• 3 regions in Germany – Bayern, Baden-Württemberg and Hessen (all NUTS level 1)
• 3 regions in Italy – the capital region of Lazio, Lombardia and Campania
• the capital regions of Warszawski stołeczny (Poland) and Attiki (Greece)
• the French region of Rhône-Alpes.

Map 2 shows the proportion of all tertiary students enrolled in bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degrees (note that short-cycle tertiary education has been omitted due to partial coverage for some regions). Each national education system has its own specific characteristics, with a particular offer of fields or levels of education. This may explain why some regions have no students enrolled for short-cycle tertiary education qualifications or for a master’s or doctoral (PhD) degree, as these educational levels are not offered. In such cases, the shares of students enrolled in other types of tertiary education may be higher than elsewhere. For example, in the Finnish archipelago of Åland, a bachelor’s degree was the only form of tertiary education available and therefore accounted for 100.0% of all tertiary enrolments.

In 2024, the most populous German region – Nordrhein-Westfalen – recorded the highest number of students enrolled in bachelor’s programmes

In 2024, there were 11.2 million students across the EU enrolled in bachelor’s programmes. Across NUTS level 2 regions, there were 8 regions where more than 90.0% of tertiary students followed a bachelor’s programme: the Finnish region of Åland, as noted above, had the highest share (100.0%), while the others in this group included:

• 3 regions in Greece – Sterea Elláda, Ipeiros and Kriti
• 2 regions in Belgium – Prov. West-Vlaanderen and Prov. Luxembourg
• 2 regions in Spain – the autonomous Ciudades de Ceuta y Melilla.

In absolute terms, the highest numbers of tertiary students studying for a bachelor’s degree in 2024 were concentrated in Nordrhein-Westfalen (467 200; NUTS level 1), followed by the French, Spanish, Greek and Italian capital regions of Ile-de-France (334 700), Comunidad de Madrid (261 700), Attiki (258 900) and Lazio (251 900).

The French capital region of Ile-de-France recorded the highest number of master’s students in 2024

There were 5.6 million students enrolled to study for a master’s education across the EU in 2024. There were 4 NUTS level 2 regions where more than half of all tertiary students (excluding short-cycle tertiary education) followed a master’s programme: Burgenland (80.6%) and Niederösterreich (58.5%) in eastern Austria, La Rioja in northern Spain (55.2%) and Cyprus (51.0%).

In absolute terms, the highest number of students studying for a master’s degree in 2024 was observed in the French capital region of Ile-de-France (323 000 students; just 11 700 fewer than were studying for a bachelor’s degree). There were also relatively high counts in 2 German regions (both NUTS level 1) and 2 Italian regions – Nordrhein-Westfalen (263 500 students), Bayern (176 400 students), Lazio (146 900 students) and Lombardia (145 100 students).

In 2024, the German region of Nordrhein-Westfalen had the highest number of students enrolled in doctoral (PhD) programmes

In 2024, there were 726 700 doctoral or equivalent students enrolled in the EU. Luxembourg (14.0%) and the eastern German region of Sachsen (10.2%; NUTS level 1) were the only regions in the EU to report double-digit shares of tertiary students (excluding short-cycle tertiary education) enrolled in a doctoral programme. The next highest shares were recorded in the German regions of Baden-Württemberg (8.3%), Saarland (8.2%), Bayern and Berlin (both 7.5%), as well as the Portuguese region of Centro (8.2%) and the Finnish capital region of Helsinki-Uusimaa (8.0%).

The highest numbers of doctoral students in 2024 were recorded in 3 German regions (all NUTS level 1): Nordrhein-Westfalen (41 400 students), Bayern (33 700 students) and Baden-Württemberg (32 800 students). Outside Germany, the next highest count was observed in the French capital region of Ile-de-France (26 500 students).

Map 2: Students enrolled in tertiary education
Source: Eurostat (educ_uoe_enrt06)

Figure 1 shows substantial regional variation in tertiary education participation by educational level and by sex.

Participation in short-cycle tertiary education

Across the EU, short-cycle tertiary education accounted for a single-digit share of tertiary students for both men and women in 2024. However, considerably higher shares were recorded in several Austrian, Spanish and French outermost regions. These shares peaked in the western Austrian region of Vorarlberg, where 56.9% of male tertiary students and 55.4% of female tertiary students were enrolled in short-cycle programmes.

Some of the widest gender gaps in 2024 were observed in the French outermost regions: for example, the participation rate for short-cycle tertiary education was considerably higher among men than women in Martinique (43.7% compared with 26.9%) and Mayotte (50.2% compared with 36.3%). Outside France, a relatively wide gender gap was also recorded in the northern Spanish region of País Vasco (32.2% for men compared with 18.5% for women).

Overall, there were 32 regions across the EU where a higher share of female than male tertiary students were enrolled in short-cycle tertiary education. This gap was most pronounced in Latvia, where the female participation rate was 7.3 percentage points higher than the male rate in 2024, with the next widest gap in the easternmost Austrian region of Burgenland (3.6 percentage points).

Participation in bachelor’s programmes

Within the EU, a majority of the tertiary students following a bachelor’s programme in 2024 were female; 6.1 million compared with 5.1 million male students. Together, they accounted for 59.1% of all tertiary education students, with a higher relative share among male students (60.1% of all male tertiary students) compared with female students (58.3% of all female tertiary students).

In the Finnish region of Åland, all male and female tertiary students in 2024 were enrolled in bachelor’s programmes. Relatively high shares were also recorded in Prov. Luxembourg in Belgium, as well as Sterea Elláda and Ipeiros in Greece, where at least 90.0% of both male and female tertiary students were studying at bachelor’s level. There were 3 other regions – all located in Greece – where at least 90.0% of male tertiary education students were enrolled in bachelor’s programmes.

In 2024, there were 121 out of 211 NUTS level 2 regions for which data are available, where the share of male tertiary education students enrolled in bachelor’s programmes was higher than the corresponding share among female students. The widest gender gaps were observed in the south-eastern Polish region of Podkarpackie (76.4% for men compared with 58.7% for women) and in the western Greek region of Dytiki Elláda (80.0% for men compared with 62.9% for women). By contrast, in 89 regions, the share of female tertiary education students enrolled in bachelor’s programme was higher. The widest gender gap in favour of women was recorded in the north-western Italian region of Liguria, where 71.6% of female tertiary education students were enrolled in bachelor’s programmes compared with 58.7% for men.

Participation in master’s programmes

Across the EU, there were 3.3 million female and 2.3 million male students enrolled in master’s programmes in 2024. This corresponded to 31.3% of all female tertiary education students, compared with 27.1% of male tertiary education students.

The share of female tertiary education students enrolled in master’s programmes was higher than the corresponding share for males in 164 out of the 211 NUTS level 2 regions for which 2024 data are available. The widest gender gap in favour of women was recorded in Cyprus, where 57.7% of female tertiary education students followed a master’s programme, compared with 35.6% of male tertiary education students. By contrast, in 46 regions the share of male tertiary education students enrolled in master’s programme was higher. The widest gender gap in favour of men was recorded in the easternmost Austrian region of Burgenland – which also had the highest overall share of master’s students – with 68.3% of male tertiary education students enrolled in master’s programmes compared with 59.4% of female tertiary education students.

Participation in doctoral programmes

There was a broadly even distribution of doctoral (PhD) students by sex, with 365 600 male and 361 100 female students across the EU in 2024. A higher share of male tertiary education students was enrolled in doctoral programmes (4.3%) compared with female students (3.4%). Luxembourg recorded the highest shares of tertiary education students enrolled in doctoral programmes for both sexes: 14.8% for males and 10.7% for females. The eastern German region of Sachsen (NUTS level 1) and the northern Italian region of Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano/Bozen were the only other regions in the EU to report double-digit shares for either sex: in Sachsen, 10.7% of male tertiary education students were enrolled in doctoral programmes, while in Bolzano/Bozen the share for males was 10.0%.

In most EU regions, participation rates in doctoral programmes were relatively low. In 2024, there were 11 NUTS level 2 regions that did not offer doctoral programmes. Overall, a higher proportion of male than female tertiary education students were enrolled in doctoral programmes, a pattern observed in 177 out of 211 regions for which data are available. The widest gender gaps in favour of men were recorded in the northern Italian region of Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano/Bozen (10.0% for men compared with 3.1% for women), Luxembourg (where there was a gap of 4.2 percentage points) and the Czech region of Moravskoslezsko (6.4% compared with 2.9%). By contrast, in 23 regions across the EU, the share of female tertiary education students enrolled in doctoral programmes was higher than that of males. The widest gender gap in favour of women was observed in the Croatian region of Sjeverna Hrvatska (2.4% for women compared with 0.7% for men).

Educational attainment

A basic level of education is desirable for all, as it provides the opportunity to participate in economic and social life. Nevertheless, people with higher levels of educational attainment generally tend to experience a wider range of job opportunities, higher levels of income and tend to be more satisfied with life, while they usually have a lower likelihood of being unemployed.

People with an upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education qualification

In 2025, 41.7% of people in the EU aged 25 to 34 had attained an upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary level of education (ISCED levels 3 and 4). This represented a decrease of 0.3 percentage points compared with 2024 and continued a downward trend observed over the past 2 decades, from a peak of 52.9% in 2002 (when the time series began). During this period, the share of people with an upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary level of educational attainment fell each year, consistent with rising participation in tertiary education (see below), with the largest annual decrease observed in 2023 (down 1.0 percentage points).

Map 3 shows regional variations in the share of people aged 25 to 34 who had attained an upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary level of education in 2025. At the top end of the distribution, there were 16 NUTS level 2 regions where at least 60.0% of people had attained an upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary level of education (shown by the darkest shade in the map). These regions were predominantly located in eastern EU countries, reflecting a greater prevalence of the vocational education and training pathway into skilled employment. This group of 16 was composed of:

• 5 regions in Czechia
• 4 regions in Hungary
• 2 regions in each of Croatia and Romania
• 1 region in Slovakia
• as well as single regions in Greece and Italy.

In 2025, the highest proportion of people aged 25 to 34 with an upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education qualification was recorded in the Greek island region of Voreio Aigaio (70.0%). High shares were also observed in the Hungarian regions of Nyugat-Dunántúl (68.3%) and Dél-Alföld (66.6%), as well as the Romanian region of Vest (67.7%).

At the other end of the range, 17 NUTS level 2 regions reported that less than a quarter of all people aged 25 to 34 had an upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary level of educational attainment in 2025 (as shown by the lightest shade in Map 3). Spain accounted for 14 of these 17 regions, with shares below 20.0% in:

• Ciudad de Ceuta (12.5%)
• Cataluña (18.5%)
• País Vasco (19.1%)
• Comunitat Valenciana (19.9%).

The only Spanish regions with shares of 25.0% or above were the island regions of Illes Balears and Canarias, the north-western regions of Principado de Asturias and Galicia, and Ciudad de Melilla.

Outside Spain, there were 2 capital regions where less than a quarter of all people aged 25 to 34 had attained an upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education qualification in 2025:

• Ile-de-France in France (20.4%)
• Sostinės regionas in Lithuania (21.5%).

Map 3: Educational attainment – upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary
Source: Eurostat (edat_lfse_04)

People with a tertiary level of educational attainment

Map 4 shows the regional distribution of tertiary educational attainment, defined as the share of people with a higher level of educational attainment (ISCED levels 5 to 8). The data refer to people aged 25 to 34, by which age the vast majority of the population have completed their education. The strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European Education Area and beyond (2021 to 2030) sets an EU-wide target in this area: by 2030, at least 45% of people aged 25 to 34 should have attained a tertiary level of education.

Almost 40% of EU regions had already reached the policy goal for tertiary educational attainment

In 2025, 44.8% of the EU population aged 25 to 34 had a tertiary level of educational attainment; note that some people within this age group might still be studying. Of the 243 NUTS level 2 regions for which data are available, 93 had already surpassed the EU’s policy target of 45.0%.

At the top end of the distribution, 24 regions reported that at least 57.5% of people aged 25 to 34 had attained a tertiary level of education in 2025. The highest shares were observed in the capital regions of Lithuania, France, Ireland and Poland, peaking at 77.4% in Sostinės regionas, while shares ranging from 69.6% and 72.7% were recorded in the other 3 capital regions. These 24 regions attract highly qualified individuals, reflecting significant ‘pull effects’ associated with diverse educational, employment and social opportunities. They are typically characterised by high-quality universities and a focus on research and innovation. The group was composed of:

• the capital regions of Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Ireland, France, Croatia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden
• 4 regions from Spain, located in the north and east
• the remaining 2 regions in Ireland
• Utrecht and Groningen in the Netherlands
• Prov. Brabant Wallon and Prov. Vlaams-Brabant in Belgium
• Rhône-Alpes in France
• Cyprus and Luxembourg.

At the bottom end of the distribution, 25 NUTS level 2 regions reported that fewer than 27.5% of people aged 25 to 34 had attained a tertiary level of education in 2025. The lowest shares were observed in the French outermost region of Mayotte (14.3%) and 3 Romanian regions: Sud-Est (16.4%), Sud-Muntenia (16.7%) and Vest (17.3%). These 25 regions were primarily rural or geographically remote, often characterised by relatively large agricultural sectors and more limited opportunities for highly skilled employment. In several regions, vocational education plays a more prominent role, with young people entering the labour market via apprenticeships or training schemes rather than through tertiary education. The group was mainly concentrated in eastern and southern EU countries and included:

• 7 of the 8 regions in Romania, the exception being the capital region of Bucureşti-Ilfov
• 6 of the 8 regions in Hungary, the exceptions the capital region of Budapest and Pest (which surrounds the capital)
• 5 regions in Italy, including the islands of Sicilia and Sardegna
• 3 regions in Greece, including the island regions of Voreio Aigaio and Notio Aigaio
• Severozápad in Czechia
• the island region of Região Autónoma dos Açores in Portugal
• the outermost regions of Mayotte and Guyane in France.

Map 4: Educational attainment – upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary
Source: Eurostat (edat_lfse_04)

Transition from education to work

When students complete their studies, several barriers can restrict their transition into the labour market. These include a lack of relevant work experience, insufficient skills, limited job opportunities in the region where they reside or high unemployment levels during an economic downturn. The final section of this chapter provides an insight into the situation of young people aged 18 to 24 as they seek to move from education into work, while it also highlights the exposure of vocational education graduates to work-based learning.

Early leavers from education and training

Within the EU, education policy seeks to ensure that everyone (irrespective of age) has the skills, knowledge and capabilities to develop their careers. The transition from education into work may prove particularly difficult for people with low levels of literacy and numeracy, those who leave education at an early age, and people coming from disadvantaged backgrounds. A particular area of concern is the proportion of early leavers from education and training. These people are defined here as individuals aged 18 to 24 who have at most a lower secondary level of educational attainment (ISCED levels 0 to 2) and who were not engaged in any further education and training (during the 4 weeks preceding the labour force survey (EU-LFS)). The proportion of early leavers is 1 of 7 key targets outlined in the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European Education Area and beyond; the EU has set a goal to reduce the proportion of early leavers to less than 9.0% by 2030.

Within the EU, the share of young people who were early leavers from education and training was 9.1% in 2025

Over the past 2 decades, the proportion of early leavers from education and training among people aged 18 to 24 has steadily declined across the EU. Starting at 16.9% in 2002 (the first year of the time series), the share fell continuously until 2017, when it reached 10.5%. It then remained stable in 2018 before resuming its downward path. After another brief pause (no change in 2023), the rate declined further and stood at 9.1% by 2025. As such, the latest rate for the EU is within 0.2 percentage points of the 2030 policy target for early leavers from education and training.

Within the EU, the number and share of early leavers from education and training is influenced by a range of factors, including geography and sex.

• Spatially, the share of early leavers tends to be higher in sparsely populated regions and former industrial heartlands. This may be linked, among other reasons, to limited educational opportunities and weak local labour markets, which discourage young people from staying (longer) in education and training, while acting as a ‘push factor’ encouraging those with higher levels of educational attainment to seek opportunities elsewhere.
• Gender differences also play a considerable role, with young men generally more likely to leave education and training earlier than young women. This reflects the pattern observed above, whereby young women were more likely than young men to have a tertiary level of educational attainment (see Figure 2 below).

More than half of all regions had attained the EU’s policy target for early leavers

In 2025, more than half (100 out of 196) of the NUTS level 2 regions for which data are available had a share of early leavers from education and training below the 9.0% policy target (see Map 5). These 100 regions were spread across much of the EU. Subject to data availability – with data for some countries available only at NUTS level 1 and others having partial coverage, all due to relatively low data reliability – they included:

• every region of Greece, Croatia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia and Sweden
• all but 1 region in Czechia
• as well as Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg and Slovakia.

The lowest share of early leavers from education and training was recorded in the Czech capital region of Praha (1.3% in 2024). The next lowest shares, in 2025, were recorded in the Croatian regions of Jadranska Hrvatska (2.0%) and Sjeverna Hrvatska (2.3%), the Greek regions of Voreia Elláda (2.1%) and the capital of Attiki (2.4%), as well as the Lithuanian capital region of Sostinės regionas (2.3%).

At the other end of the range, 20 NUTS level 2 regions had a share of early leavers from education and training of at least 15.5% in 2025. This group was located primarily in Germany (5 regions), Spain, France and Romania (all 4 regions), although it also included single regions from each of Bulgaria, Hungary and Portugal. Many of these regions were characterised as sparsely populated, island and/or peripheral regions, but with some notable exceptions; it is likely that a disproportionately high share of students from island and/or peripheral regions have to leave home if they wish to follow a particular course or programme, leaving behind a higher concentration of early leavers. Berlin was the only capital region in this group, with a 15.7% share of early leavers.

The share of early leavers from education and training exceeded 20.0% in 6 disparate regions:

• the French outermost regions of Mayotte (38.9%) and Guyane (25.5%)
• the Romanian region of Sud-Est (25.1%)
• the French island region of Corse (21.5%; 2023 data)
• the Portuguese island region of Região Autónoma dos Açores (21.1%)
• the southern Spanish Región de Murcia (20.6%).

Map 5: Early leavers from education and training
Source: Eurostat (edat_lfse_16)

Figure 2 highlights the NUTS level 2 regions with the highest shares of early leavers from education and training among men and women aged 18 to 24. In 2025, the French outermost region of Mayotte recorded the highest share among men (38.2%) and women (39.4%).

It was relatively common for the highest shares among both men and women to be recorded for the same region within each EU country. This suggests that regional factors are more important than gender-specific ones. Many of these regions face structural disadvantages, such as lower socio-economic development, weaker education systems or limited access to quality jobs. As a result, both sexes face similar pressures to leave education early, including financial constraints and early entry into low-skilled work. This pattern – where both men’s and women’s highest regional shares occurred in the same region – was observed in 12 of the 20 countries for which regional data are available for 2025.

In Spain, Región de Murcia recorded the highest shares for both sexes in 2025, with a considerable gender gap and substantially higher rates among men than women (a difference of 12.3 percentage points). By contrast, in 4 eastern EU countries – Romania, Czechia, Bulgaria and Hungary – as well as in France and in Sweden, the highest regional share of early leavers among women exceeded the highest regional share among men. The largest gap was recorded in Sud-Est in Romania, where the share of early leavers among women was 12.2 percentage points higher than among men.

In approximately 4 out of 5 regions across the EU, the share of early leavers from education and training was higher among young men than young women in 2025

More than 1 in 10 young men aged 18 to 24 across the EU (10.6% in 2025) were early leavers from education and training, compared with 7.5% of young women in the same age group; this resulted in a gender gap of 3.1 percentage points. A similar pattern was observed across most EU regions: among the 138 regions for which data are available, 109 reported a higher share of early leavers among young men (than young women). The largest regional gender gaps were recorded in Spain:

• in Illes Balears, the share of young men who were early leavers was 15.5 percentage points higher than for young women
• in La Rioja, the gap was 12.6 points
• in Región de Murcia, the gap was 12.3 points.

The French outermost region of Guyane was the only other region in the EU with a double-digit gender gap, with the rate for young men 11.3 points higher than that for young women.

Among the 27 EU regions where, in 2025, the share of early leavers from education and training was higher for young women than for young men, the largest gender gaps were recorded in Romania:

• in Sud-Est, the rate for young women was 12.2 percentage points higher than for young men
• in Sud-Muntenia, the gap was 7.0 points
• in Centru, the gap was 6.5 points
• the next largest gap was observed in the Czech region of Severozápad, where the rate for young women was 5.0 points higher than that for young men.

Exposure of VET graduates to work-based learning

EU policymakers place considerable emphasis on work-based learning as a key component of vocational education and training (VET), recognising its role in easing the transition from education to employment and strengthening labour market relevance. Through a range of initiatives, they seek to ensure that VET systems combine classroom instruction with practical experience in real work environments, thereby improving a graduates’ employability and skills. These efforts focus on expanding apprenticeship schemes, strengthening cooperation between education providers and employers, and improving the quality and availability of work-based training opportunities.

Work-based learning is widely acknowledged as a central feature of high-performing VET systems, as it allows learners to develop job-specific competences alongside transversal skills such as problem-solving, communication and teamwork. Exposure to real work environments during training also helps VET graduates make more informed career choices and facilitates smoother school-to-work transitions.

In 2025, almost two thirds of vocational graduates in the EU had been exposed to work-based training

Within the EU, 66.0% of vocational graduates aged 20 to 34 from upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED 35 and 45) had been exposed to at least 1 month of work-based learning in 2025; this was 6.0 percentage points higher than the EU target of 60.0%.

At NUTS level 1, the vast majority of regions (51 out of 72 for which data are available) also recorded shares above the 60.0% target in 2025. Subject to data availability, this was the case in all regions of Germany, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Austria and Sweden. Shares above the target were also observed for Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, mainland Portugal, Slovenia and Finland (excluding Åland).

At the upper end of the distribution, 14 regions recorded shares of at least 95.0%. This group included 5 regions in France, and 3 regions in each of Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. The highest regional shares were observed in the Spanish regions of Noroeste and Noreste, at 98.9% and 98.0%, respectively.

By contrast, all of the regions in Belgium, Italy and Hungary recorded shares below 60.0%; this was also the case for Czechia, Ireland, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, Luxembourg (2023 data), Malta, Romania and Slovakia as well as in 1 Polish region. At the lower end of the distribution, 9 regions had shares below 30.0%, including:

• Romania, which had the lowest share in the EU, at 9.1%
• Italy, where 4 out of 5 regions had shares below 30.0%, including Sud which was the only other region in the EU to record a single-digit share (9.6%); the exception was Nord-Est (33.9%)
• Czechia, Cyprus, Greece and Ireland.

Map 6: Exposure of VET graduates to work-based learning
Source: Eurostat (labour force survey) and (edat_lfse_9919)

Source data for figures and maps

Data sources

As the structure of education systems varies between EU countries, a framework for assembling, compiling and presenting regional, national and international education statistics is a prerequisite for the comparability of data – this is provided by the international standard classification of education (ISCED). ISCED 2011 was adopted by the UNESCO General Conference in November 2011 and is used as the basis for the statistics presented here.

Most EU education statistics are collected as part of a jointly administered exercise that involves the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UNESCO-UIS), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Eurostat, referred to as the UOE data collection exercise. This exercise is based on administrative sources, with data compiled by education ministries or national statistical offices. Reference periods are the calendar year for data on expenditure and the school/academic year (classified to the calendar year in which the school/academic year finishes) for all non-financial data.

Eurostat collects data for regional enrolments separately. These statistics include information on the numbers of pupils/students enrolled by age, sex and ISCED level, at NUTS level 2. Their legal basis, from school year 2012/13, is Commission Regulation (EU) No 912/2013 concerning the production and development of statistics on education and lifelong learning, as regards statistics on education and training systems.

The EU’s labour force survey (EU-LFS) provides regional education statistics about the population’s level of educational attainment, the number of early leavers from education and training, the employment rates of recent young graduates, the exposure of VET graduates to work-based learning, as well as adult participation in education and training. It covers the population of individuals aged 15 or over living in private households; information for each new reference year is made available in the spring of the following year.

EU-LFS data up to 2013 are based on ISCED 1997, while data from 2014 onwards are based on ISCED 2011. Data are generally comparable over this time period, although there are breaks in series for Estonia and Austria due to level shifts resulting from the reclassification of programmes spanning different ISCED levels.

Indicator definitions

Participation in early childhood education

For the purpose of this publication, the participation rate in early childhood education is defined as the share of children between the age of 3 and the age when compulsory education at the primary level starts; more detailed information on the starting ages for compulsory education and for compulsory primary education is provided in this annex. The starting age of primary education is before the age of compulsory education in some countries, while in other countries compulsory education starts at the pre-primary level (in other words, it may be compulsory to attend early childhood programmes for a year or more before the start of primary education).

Students enrolled in tertiary education

Tertiary education is defined as ISCED levels 5 to 8. It builds on secondary education, providing learning activities in specialised fields of study. Tertiary education comprises short-cycle tertiary education (ISCED level 5), bachelor’s or equivalent (ISCED level 6), master’s or equivalent (ISCED level 7) and doctoral (PhD) or equivalent (ISCED level 8) education. For the first 3 of these, students generally need to have successfully completed an upper secondary programme, while those wishing to study for a doctorate generally need to have completed a master’s programme.

The number of students in tertiary education may reflect capacities and policies for the development of particular educational levels, but is also linked to qualification requirements, subject choice and/or job opportunities. As students grow older and education becomes more specialised, student mobility generally increases. As such, international flows of students may have a considerable impact on the share/number of students enrolled.

Educational attainment

Educational attainment is a term commonly used to refer to the highest level of education that an individual has successfully completed. The strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European Education Area and beyond (2021 to 2030) introduced 2 targets.

• The share of early leavers from education and training (defined as people aged 18 to 24 with no more than a lower secondary education and no longer in education or training) should be less than 9% by 2030. This target is supplemented by a complementary indicator, namely, that the share of people aged 20 to 24 with at least an upper secondary (or intermediate) level of educational attainment should be at least 90% by 2030.
• The share of people aged 25 to 34 with a tertiary level of educational attainment should be at least 45% by 2030.

The data presented above for educational attainment cover 2 different levels of education:

• upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education (as defined by ISCED levels 3 and 4)
• tertiary education (as defined by ISCED levels 5 to 8).

Early leavers from education and training

The indicator of early leavers from education and training is derived from the EU labour force survey. It is defined as the share of the population aged 18 to 24 with no more than a lower secondary level of educational attainment who are no longer in education or training. The strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European Education Area and beyond (2021 to 2030) introduced a target for the share of early leavers from education and training, whereby this should be less than 9% in the EU by 2030.

Exposure of VET graduates to work-based learning

This indicator is derived from the EU labour force survey. It is defined as the share of recent graduates from vocational education and training (VET) benefitting from exposure to work-based learning during their vocational education and training. The denominator covers people aged 20 to 34 with an upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary educational attainment of vocational orientation who had successfully completed their highest level of education in the 3 years prior to the survey. The numerator covers people among the denominator who indicated they had undertaken work experience of at least 1 month while studying (for example, work experience in a company, government institution or non-profit organisation), as part of the curriculum of the formal programme they were following.

Context

Each of the EU countries is responsible for its own education and training policy. However, the EU supports national actions and helps address common education and training challenges through what is known as the open method of coordination. Indeed, the EU provides a policy forum for discussing topical issues (for example, ageing societies, the skills deficit or global competition) and also provides EU countries with an opportunity to exchange best practices. Within this context, the European Commission has presented a wide range of initiatives for developing education and training in the EU, such as improving key competences (for example, literacy, language skills, digital skills and entrepreneurship), making better use of digital technology for teaching and learning, and developing mutual recognition of diplomas.

The EU is in the process of building a European Education Area, designed to provide quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning for all, as enshrined within the European Pillar of Social Rights. In February 2021, a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European Education Area and beyond (2021 to 2030) was adopted.

As a means of monitoring progress, a series of reference levels (or benchmarks) for EU performance in education and training have been agreed. These 7 targets for the EU as a whole are intended to support monitoring strategic education and training priorities during the period 2021 to 2030.

A mid-term review of the European Education Area was conducted during 2023, providing an opportunity to assess progress and identify ongoing and emerging challenges. This process involved consultation, dialogue and shared reflection with a range of stakeholders and concluded that the priority areas for future work include:

• implementing initiatives across Europe as well as nationally and locally
• improving quality and equity across all sectors of education and training
• strengthening education for active citizenship, including European citizenship education
• supporting the teaching profession by addressing teacher shortages as well as promoting professional development and mobility opportunities
• expanding access to digital education and skills development for all
• removing the remaining barriers to the automatic recognition of qualifications
• providing a blueprint for a European degree.

The European Commission officially launched the Erasmus programme on 1 July 1987 (39 years ago, as of summer 2026). At the end of 2020, political leaders agreed on the Erasmus+ programme for 2021 to 2027. The programme supports education and training in the EU by offering mobility and cooperation opportunities in higher education, vocational education and training, school education, adult education, youth and sport. It has a budget of €26.2 billion and prioritises social inclusion, the green and digital transitions, and young people’s participation in democratic life. Altogether, the Erasmus and Erasmus+ programmes have enabled more than 16 million people to study, work or volunteer abroad.

This article forms part of Eurostat’s annual flagship publication, the Eurostat regional yearbook.

You can explore the maps interactively using Eurostat’s Statistical Atlas.

Footnotes

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