Eurostat, the EU statistical agency, has revealed that Ireland has the most higher education graduates per head of population of all 27 countries within the European Union. Looking at the proportion of people aged 30 – 34 who had completed tertiary education, Eurostate said that in 2012, 51.5% of Ireland’s residents had degrees. Next in line was Cyprus (49.9%), Luxembourg (49.6%) and Lighuania (48.7%).

The lowest proportion of higher education graduates was found in Italy (21.7%), Romania (21.8%) and Malta (22.4%). EU Education Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou stated that there has been very positive progress in achieving education targets, the jobs of the future will demand higher qualifications, and these figures are showing that more young poeple are determined to achieve their full potential.

Other data shows that a higher proportion of women aged 30-34 had completed tertiary education on average than men in the EU – 40% compared to 31.6%, this was the case for nearly all member states, with 57.9% women completing tertiary education in Ireland in 2012.