Press Release 29/09/2023

MUNICIPAL EDUCATION STATISTICS. 2022

Nearly two thirds of the population aged 16 and over in the Basque Country had continued their studies beyond compulsory education

Among the student population aged 16 and over, there were higher numbers of women at all educational levels

In 2022, 63.5% of the population aged 16 and over in the Basque Country, equivalent to 1,193,366 people, had continued their studies beyond compulsory education, reaching a level of education classified as upper secondary or higher, according to Eustat data. This represents an increase of 1.2 percentage points compared to 2021, when this figure stood at 1,168,748 people.

Based on the National Classification of Education (CNED-A), the first group with regard to the level of education attained is the first stage of secondary education or lower, ranging from lower levels to basic and compulsory education. 36.5% of the population aged 16 and over belonged to this group, down 1.2 points on 2021. This group includes people who have not completed primary school level education (1.7%), people who have finished primary education (10.7%) and people who have completed the first stage of secondary education (24.1%), basically equivalent to Compulsory Secondary Education, Basic General Education, Lower Secondary Education etc., along with some vocational training.

The second group is the level of secondary education and post-secondary non-higher education, which comprised 20.3% of the population aged 16 and over, a rise of 0.3 points in comparison with 2021. This level refers to upper secondary education and basic and intermediate level vocational training. The third group, the level of higher education, accounted for 43.2% of the population, with an increase of 0.9 points compared to the previous year. Within this group, 15.5% corresponded to the level of advanced vocational training, with 291,103 people.

Differences in the level of education were small between the provinces, but greater between the regions

By province, small percentage differences were observed in terms of the level of education attained by the population aged 16 and over. In Álava, there was a higher proportion of individuals with a level of education belonging to group A, which corresponds to the first stage of secondary education or lower, with 37.4%, in contrast to 36.8% in Bizkaia and 35.6% in Gipuzkoa. Álava also had the highest proportion of people with a level of education from group B, which covers the second stage of secondary education and post-secondary non-higher education, with 21.5%, compared to 20.7% in Gipuzkoa and 19.8% in Bizkaia. However, the level of education in group C, which represents higher education, was slightly more common in Gipuzkoa, with 43.7%, and Bizkaia, with 43.4%, than in Álava, with 41.1%.

At regional level, the differences with regard to higher education were more pronounced. Of particular note were the regions of Plentzia-Mungia (56%) and Estribaciones del Gorbea (52.4%), where more than half of the population aged 16 and over had completed higher education, exceeding the Basque Country average by 12.8 and 9.2 percentage points, respectively. At the other end of the scale were the regions of Rioja Alavesa (33.6%) and Encartaciones (36.3%), where around a third of the population had reached the level of higher education.

Lastly, there were also differences between the Basque capitals in the proportion of people with higher education: San Sebastián had the highest percentage (50.8%), followed by Bilbao (47.4%) and Vitoria-Gasteiz (40.5%), following the same order seen in the provinces.

Higher education was slightly more common among men than women

Among men and women aged 16 and over, the largest group was higher education, with 43.9% in the case of men and 42.5% in that of women; next was the first stage of secondary education or lower, with a higher relative weight among women (38.7%) than men (34.1%); and, lastly, the second stage of secondary education and post-secondary non-higher education was more common among men (22%) than women (18.8%). By province and level of higher education, women residing in Álava stood out for having a higher relative value than men, 40.7% compared to 41.4%.

11% of the population aged 16 and over were still in education and, of these, more than half were pursuing higher education

In 2022, 11% of the population aged 16 and over in the Basque Country, equivalent to 207,608 people, were enrolled in some level of ongoing education according to the National Classification of Education for ongoing education (CNED-P).

More than half of this group of students, 51.8% (a total of 107,499 people), were studying at the level of higher education. 39.7%, 82,389 people, were at the level of secondary education and post-secondary non-higher education. 6.1%, i.e. 12,686 people, were at the level of first stage of secondary education or lower. Lastly, 2.4%, equivalent to 5,034 people, were enrolled in non-formal education for adults.

If we look at the student population aged 16 and over disaggregated by gender, we can see that there was a higher proportion of women, representing 52.5%, in comparison to men, accounting for 47.5%. This difference was consistently seen at all levels of ongoing education. At primary school level, women represented 53.5%, a difference of 7.1 percentage points compared to men.

These proportions were very similar for men and women separately. The differences consisted of a higher proportion of men in group B, the second stage of secondary education and post-secondary non-higher education (+1.9 points), and a higher proportion of women in all the others, in particular non-formal education (+1 point).

Primary and secondary education was primarily completed in the municipality of residence and higher education in another municipality in the same province

In 2022, more than half the student population in the first stage of secondary education or lower and secondary education and post-secondary non-higher education (54.5% and 55.8%, respectively) studied in their home municipality. On the other hand, 45% of the population aged 16 and over in the Basque Country pursued both advanced level vocational training and university studies in a municipality belonging to their home province, i.e. 48,349 people. At this level, there was a significant proportion of individuals whose place of study was located in another autonomous region or abroad (18.1%). This situation was not seen at the other levels of education.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel.: 945 01 75 62