Most Educated Countries
Canada has the highest Tertiary Total in 2025 (64.0%), followed by Ireland (59.0%) and Japan (58.0%). South Africa has the lowest (8%).
7 sources
- Education at a Glance 2025 - OECD Library
- Education at a Glance 2024 - OECD Library
- Education at a Glance 2023 - OECD Library
- Table A1.2. Trends in educational attainment of 25-34 year-olds, by gender (2011 and 2021) (page 46) - Education at a Glance 2022 (OECD)
- Population with tertiary education - OECD Data
- Adult education level - OECD
- The 10 most educated countries in the world - CNBC
Tertiary Total, 2025
Darker green is better (higher is better). Click a place to highlight it.
All 46 ranked
Best first.
Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →
Each dot is one country; the lines mark the median and the middle half.
Over time · 2021–2025
The top 5 in 2025, against the median.
- Median of all countries
- Canada
- Ireland
- Japan
- South Korea
- United Kingdom
Data
Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.
| # | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Canada | 64.0% | 60.0% | 76.0% |
| 2 |  Ireland | 59.0% | 63.0% | 70.0% |
| 3 |  Japan | 58.0% | 63.0% | 70.0% |
| 3 |  South Korea | 58.0% | 63.0% | 80.0% |
| 5 |  United Kingdom | 55.0% | 58.0% | 65.0% |
| 5 |  Luxembourg | 55.0% | 60.0% | 65.0% |
| 7 |  Australia | 54.0% | 50.0% | 66.0% |
| 8 |  United States | 52.0% | 48.0% | 57.0% |
| 9 |  Sweden | 51.0% | 46.0% | 61.0% |
| 9 |  Israel | 51.0% | 36.0% | 57.0% |
| 11 |  Norway | 50.0% | 48.0% | 66.0% |
| 11 |  Lithuania | 50.0% | 53.0% | 70.0% |
| 13 |  Belgium | 47.0% | 45.0% | 60.0% |
| 14 |  Netherlands | 46.0% | 52.0% | 61.0% |
| 14 |  Switzerland | 46.0% | 48.0% | 54.0% |
| 14 |  Denmark | 46.0% | 44.0% | 61.0% |
| 17 |  France | 45.0% | 52.0% | 59.0% |
| 18 |  New Zealand | 44.0% | 42.0% | 53.0% |
| 18 |  Iceland | 44.0% | 31.0% | 58.0% |
| 20 |  Finland | 43.0% | 31.0% | 47.0% |
| 21 |  Spain | 42.0% | 47.0% | 59.0% |
| 21 |  Estonia | 42.0% | 33.0% | 56.0% |
| 23 |  Latvia | 41.0% | 35.0% | 55.0% |
| 24 |  Poland | 40.0% | 36.0% | 55.0% |
| 25 |  Austria | 38.0% | 38.0% | 50.0% |
| 26 |  Chile | 37.0% | 39.0% | 48.0% |
| 27 |  Bulgaria | 36.0% | 35.0% | 48.0% |
| 28 |  Germany | 35.0% | 38.0% | 44.0% |
| 28 |  Greece | 35.0% | 35.0% | 51.0% |
| 28 |  Slovenia | 35.0% | 32.0% | 55.0% |
| 31 |  Portugal | 33.0% | 35.0% | 51.0% |
| 32 |  Hungary | 32.0% | 28.0% | 38.0% |
| 33 |  Croatia | 31.0% | 34.0% | 51.0% |
| 34 |  Slovakia | 30.0% | 28.0% | 45.0% |
| 35 |  Colombia | 29.0% | — | — |
| 35 |  Czechia | 29.0% | 29.0% | 43.0% |
| 37 |  Turkey | 28.0% | 41.0% | 50.0% |
| 37 |  Costa Rica | 28.0% | 31.0% | 37.0% |
| 39 |  Argentina | 23.0% | 14.0% | 20.0% |
| 40 |  Brazil | 22.0% | 20.0% | 28.0% |
| 40 |  Mexico | 22.0% | 28.0% | 30.0% |
| 40 |  Italy | 22.0% | 25.0% | 38.0% |
| 43 |  Romania | 19.0% | 21.0% | 25.0% |
| 44 |  India | 16.0% | 28.0% | 25.0% |
| 45 |  Indonesia | 13.0% | 15.0% | 21.0% |
| 46 |  South Africa | 8% | 7% | 10.0% |
What correlates with Tertiary Total (2025)?
Pearson r against 2,059 other country metrics sharing at least 28 countries. Ranks are read by standing: a better rank counts as higher, whether rank 1 is the best place on a list or the worst. Correlation is not causation.
Higher together
Places that have a higher Tertiary Total tend to score higher on these (or rank better)
Opposite directions
Places that have a higher Tertiary Total tend to score lower on these (or rank worse)
Quick answers
- Which country has the highest Tertiary Total?
- Canada has the highest Tertiary Total in 2025, at 64.0%, followed by Ireland (59.0%) and Japan (58.0%).
- Which country has the lowest Tertiary Total?
- South Africa has the lowest Tertiary Total in 2025, at 8%.
- What is the median Tertiary Total across countries?
- The median is 40.5% across the 46 countries with data in 2025.
- Where does this most educated countries data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Education at a Glance 2025 - OECD Library; Education at a Glance 2024 - OECD Library; Education at a Glance 2023 - OECD Library; Table A1.2. Trends in educational attainment of 25-34 year-olds, by gender (2011 and 2021) (page 46) - Education at a Glance 2022 (OECD).