Population by educational attainment level

In 2023, 15.8% of 25 to 64-year-olds were low-skilled, 38.9% medium-skilled and 45.4% highly skilled. Low-skilled people are people without a final secondary education diploma. Middle-educated people have successfully completed secondary education or post-secondary non-higher education. Highly educated people have a higher education diploma.

The share of low-skilled workers fell from 42.3% to 15.8% between 1999 and 2023. There was an opposite evolution among the medium-skilled and the highly skilled: compared to 1999, the shares of medium- and high-skilled people have clearly increased (from 32.5% to 38.9% and from 25.2% to 45.4% respectively). The share of highly educated people has increased the most.

Women are more likely to be highly educated than men. In 2023, 50.0% of women were highly educated compared to 40.8% of men. On the other hand, 16.7% of men and 14.8% of women have low education.

About half of both 25 to 34-year-olds (51.6%) and 35 to 54-year-olds (48.1%) were highly educated in 2023. This was 34.6% among 55 to 64 year olds. In the latter age group, 23.6% had low education. This share is clearly lower among 25 to 34-year-olds (11.7%) and 35 to 54-year-olds (13.5%).

51.6% of workers aged between 25 and 64 were highly educated in 2023. Of those who are unemployed, 30.7% were highly educated. Among the non-professionally active (people who are not working and who are not actively looking for a job), this was 19.5%. Conversely, 10.4% of workers had low education. This was 24.1% among the unemployed and 38.4% among the non-active.

People who are not hindered during their daily activities due to a disability or long-term health problem are more likely to have a higher education than people who are hindered. In 2023, 47.1% of people without hindrance were highly educated, compared to 25.2% of people with hindrance. Among people without hindrance, 13.8% had low education compared to 30.7% among people with hindrance.

Finally, in 2023, 47.5% of people born in Belgium were highly educated. This share was lower (39.1%) among people born in another country of the European Union (EU27). This was 33.6% for people born outside the EU. Conversely, the share of low-skilled people among people born outside the EU (38.1%) was clearly higher than among people born in Belgium (12.0%) or in another EU country (24.9%).

The share of highly educated people in the Flemish Region (45.4%) in 2023 was between the share of the Brussels Capital Region (53.8%) and the Walloon Region (40.5%). In Belgium as a whole the figure was 44.8%.

In the European Union (EU27), on average just over 1 in 3 inhabitants was highly educated in 2023 (35.1%). That share was higher in the Flemish Region. There are major differences between EU countries in this regard. In Ireland, more than half of the population (54.5%) is highly educated. In Romania that share is 18.6%.