Nearly half of young people aged 18 to 24 with a severe disability in the European Union left education and training early during 2024, according to a report from Eurostat.

The figures showed that 44.2 per cent of people in this age group with a severe disability were early leavers from education and training across EU member states.

Among young people with some form of disability, the figure was 17.1 per cent, while for those without any disability it stood at just 8.0 per cent.

Eurostat stated that this pattern was consistent for both women and men, highlighting a persistent gap in education outcomes between people with and without disabilities.

The disparity was particularly pronounced among men, with the share of early leavers among those with some disability being 12.6 percentage points higher than among men without disabilities.

For women, the corresponding gap was smaller but still significant, at 6.5 percentage points.

Across all disability levels, women were less likely than men to leave education early, Eurostat said.

The largest gender gap was recorded among those with a severe disability, where 49.4 per cent of men were early leavers compared to 38.3 per cent of women, representing a difference of 11.1 percentage points.