Press Release 11/12/2013
One in four people had been educated at university level in the Basque Country in 2011
Two in three vocational training qualifications corresponded to higher level studies
Nearly one in four people over the age of ten, 24.1%, had intermediate-higher or higher university studies in 2011, a total of 475,000 people, according to Eustat data.
This figure was up 2.6 percentage points on 2006, when 418,000 people had the same level of training (21.5%). This proportion had risen to 25.8% for women and had been pegged at 22.3% for men, meaning that the difference was wider than in 2006.
Conversely, the illiteracy rate among the over 10's was 0.5% in 2011: 0.3% in the case of men and 0.7% in the case of women. This rate was particularly high among the elderly and, therefore, while the rate stood at 0.2% for the under 65's, it jumped to 1.4% for the over 65's, although it had dropped half a point with respect to 2006.
The differences in the level of education by province were small. Comparatively, a higher proportion of individuals were educated to secondary school level in Álava, 22.2% compared to 20.9% for the Basque Country as a whole. Bizkaia topped the autonomous region with the highest level of university educated individuals: 24.9% compared to 24.1%. In the case of Gipuzkoa, 17.6%, it was up one percentage point on the Basque Country as a whole in terms of the number of people that had obtained vocational training qualifications.
The distribution of the level of education by region presented bigger differences. Regions whose university level of education stood out included Plentzia-Mungia, 33%, Donostia-San Sebastián, 26.4%, and Estribaciones del Gorbea, 26.0%. Regions that exceeded the 16.5% average level of vocational training included Encartaciones, 20.4%, and Alto Deba, 20.0%.
Population aged 10 and above with a university level of education by region. Basque Country (%). 2011
Source: Eustat. Population and Housing Census 2011
In 2011, 480,000 people, 24.3% of the population over 10, were undertaking some kind of studies
The proportion of students had risen two percentage points with respect to 2006, when the figure stood at 22.2%, and there were more than 47,000 students.
The vast majority of students, 48.4%, were at Primary or Infant Education level, followed by secondary education students, 24.5%, and higher university students, 14.5%. Vocational training accounted for 7.6% of the student population while 5% were undertaking intermediate-higher studies.
Certain levels of education registered gender-based differences. 16.1% of women took higher university studies in 2011 compared to 12.9% of men. The proportion of women educated to intermediate-higher level was also higher, 5.7% compared to 4.3% of men and, to a lesser extent, the proportion of women educated to secondary school level, 25% compared to 24% of men. Conversely, more men completed vocational training than women, 8.9% compared to 6.4%, and more men were educated to primary school level, 50% compared to 46.8%, respectively.
The number of university degree holders and those holding vocational training related qualifications was up on 2006
Based on the level of qualifications, in 2011 18.5% of the population over 10 years old held an intermediate-higher or higher qualification. This proportion rose to 20.3% in the case of women and fell to 16.7% in the case of men. Compared to 2006, the number of intermediate-higher and higher qualifications increased 1.3 percentage points.
The population holding vocational training related qualifications also grew from 14.6% in 2006 to 15.6% in 2011. More men held qualifications, 18.6%, than women, 12.8%. The detail of vocational training qualifications shows that two in three qualifications issued corresponded to higher level, i.e. qualifications relating to higher-level training cycles.
As with studies in progress and the level of education, in the case of the level of qualifications, Bizkaia recorded the highest proportion of its population with university degrees, 19.5%, followed by Gipuzkoa with 17.6% and, lastly, Álava with 16.8%. Gipuzkoa had the highest proportion of individuals with vocational qualifications, 16.8%, compared to 15.7% in Álava and 14.9% in Bizkaia.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tlf: 945 01 75 62
Further press releases on the CPV2011 of the Basque Country
Databank on the CPV2011 of the Basque Country