There has been a steady increase in the share of persons aged 30 to 34 in the EU28 who have completed tertiary education, from 24% in 2002, when the series started, to 37% in 2013. The Europe 2020 strategy’s target is to increase the proportion of persons having completed tertiary education to at least 40% of the EU28 population in this age group by 2020.

For early school leavers (persons aged 18-24 who had at most lower secondary education and were currently not in further education or training) in the EU28, there has been a steady decrease, from 17% in 2002 to 12% in 2013.

The Europe 2020 target is to reduce the share of early leavers from education and training to below 10% of the EU28 population in this age group by 2020.

Improving the EU’s performance in education is one of the key objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy. Today, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, publishes the most recent data for the EU and Member States on achievement against the targets set under this objective.

Highest proportion of those aged 30-34 who completed tertiary education in Ireland, Luxembourg and Lithuania

In 2013, the proportion of those aged 30 to 34 who had completed tertiary education increased compared with 2002 in all Member States. The proportion more than doubled in ten Member States: Poland (from 14.4% in 2002 to 40.5% in 2013), Malta (from 9.3% to 26.0%), Slovakia (from 10.5% to 26.9%), Romania (from 9.1% to 22.8%), Latvia (from 17.3% to 40.7%), Portugal (from 13.0% to 29.2%), Luxembourg (from 23.6% to 52.5%), Hungary (from 14.4% to 31.9%), Lithuania (from 23.4% to 51.3%) and the Czech Republic (from 12.6% to 26.7%).

In 2013, the highest proportions of those aged 30 to 34 having completed tertiary education were observed in Ireland (52.6%), Luxembourg (52.5%), Lithuania (51.3%), Sweden (48.3%), Cyprus (47.8%) and the United Kingdom (47.6%), and the lowest in Italy (22.4%), Romania (22.8%), Croatia (25.9%) and Malta (26.0%). Eleven Member States have already met or exceeded their 2020 national targets for this indicator (Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Finland and Sweden).

Lowest shares of early leavers from education and training in Croatia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic

In 2013, the proportion of early leavers from education and training (population aged 18-24 who had at most lower secondary education and were currently not in further education or training) decreased compared with 2005 in all Member States, except Poland and Slovakia. The proportion halved in Portugal (from 38.8% to 19.2%) and Cyprus (from 18.2% to 9.1%).

In 2013, the lowest proportions of early school leavers observed in Croatia (3.7%), Slovenia (3.9%), the Czech Republic (5.4%) and Poland (5.6%), and the highest in Spain (23.5%), Malta (20.9%) and Portugal (19.2%). Eleven Member States have already fulfilled their 2020 national targets for this indicator (the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Austria, Slovenia and Sweden).