Over 3 000 000 persons with educational qualifications

By the end of 2011 a total of 3,056,000 million persons in Finland had completed a post-comprehensive level qualification. Four decades earlier their number was much lower.

According to Statistics Finland, 68 per cent of the population aged 15 or over had attained post-comprehensive level educational qualifications in upper secondary general school education, vocational education, polytechnic education or university education. The share of population with educational qualifications increased by two per cent from the year before.

Four decades earlier in Finland, their number was 882,000. By the end of 1970, one out of four and by the end of 2010 two out of three in the population aged 15 or over had attained a post-comprehensive level educational qualification.

In 2011, the shares of those having attained post-comprehensive school qualifications were almost equal in three age groups, those aged 25 to 34, 35 to 44 and 45 to 54, that is, 84 to 86 per cent. In 1970 and 1990 the shares of those having completed the basic level of education were highest in the age group of those aged 25 to 34, clearly more than among those aged 35 to 44 and 45 to 54.

Persons having completed only the basic level of education, i.e. comprehensive school, middle school or elementary school, numbered 1,456,000 in 2011, or one-third of the population aged 15 or over. Upper secondary level qualifications were held by 40 per cent and tertiary level qualifications by 28 per cent.

At the end of 2011, 42 per cent of men and 37 per cent of women had upper secondary level qualifications, whereas tertiary degrees were held by 25 per cent of men and 31 per cent of women.

The statistics on the educational structure of the population describe the post-comprehensive school educational qualifications and degrees attained by the population aged 15 and over. Besides diverse data describing education, the statistics contain information on the age, gender, native language, nationality and migration of attainers of educational qualifications and degrees. The data are based on Statistics Finland’s Register of Completed Education and Degrees.