Cyprus ranks among top EU nations for young tertiary-educated workforce

Cyprus recorded one of the highest shares of young adults with a tertiary education qualification in the EU in 2025, as the bloc continued to expand its highly educated workforce, according to Eurostat.

The share of people aged 25 to 34 in Cyprus who had successfully completed tertiary education reached 60 per cent in 2025, up from 41.3 per cent in 2005.

That represented an increase of 18.7 percentage points over the 20-year period, putting Cyprus well above the EU average of 44.8 per cent in 2025.

Cyprus’s 60 per cent was bettered only by Ireland, at 66.8 per cent, Luxembourg, at 65 per cent, and Lithuania, at 60.8 per cent.

Across the EU, the proportion of people aged 25 to 34 with a tertiary qualification increased steadily, rising from 27.2 per cent in 2005 to 44.8 per cent in 2025.

The increase of 17.6 percentage points means the EU is now close to its 2030 target under the European Education Area strategic framework, which aims to raise the share of the population holding a higher education degree to at least 45 per cent by 2030.

Cyprus had therefore already exceeded the EU’s 2030 target by a considerable margin in 2025.

The figures also underline the growing role of higher education in supplying the skills required by the labour market, with Eurostat saying the overall increase partly reflected investment in higher education to meet demand for a more highly skilled labour force.

The data showed that tertiary attainment had increased for both women and men across the EU, although women continued to have substantially higher attainment rates.

In 2025, 50.5 per cent of women aged 25 to 34 in the EU had completed tertiary education, compared with 39.3 per cent of men.

There were also significant differences depending on where people lived.

More than half, or 55 per cent, of people aged 25 to 34 living in cities had attained a tertiary qualification in 2025.

The proportion was considerably lower among those living in towns and suburbs, at 38.4 per cent, while it stood at 32.9 per cent in rural areas.

Tertiary educational attainment increased in every EU member state between 2005 and 2025, although the scale of the change varied considerably.

Malta recorded the largest increase, at 29.9 percentage points, followed by Luxembourg at 28.0 percentage points and Ireland at 25.9 percentage points.

At the other end of the scale, Finland recorded the smallest increase, at just 0.7 percentage points, while Romania registered an increase of 9.5 percentage points and Estonia 11.2 percentage points.

The rise in educational attainment also reflected changes in the structure of higher education in some member states.

Eurostat said some countries had moved towards shorter degree programmes following the implementation of reforms under the Bologna process, contributing to changes in tertiary education participation and completion.

The expansion of higher education has taken place alongside a broader shift towards economies requiring workers with higher levels of education and specialised skills.

For Cyprus, where 60 per cent of people aged 25 to 34 had a tertiary qualification in 2025, the figures placed the country substantially above the EU-wide level and highlighted the high proportion of younger adults entering the labour market with higher education credentials.

The EU-wide data also suggested that the expansion of tertiary education had been particularly pronounced among younger generations, with the 25 to 34 age group increasingly becoming the focus of efforts to strengthen skills and meet changing labour-market requirements.