Educational attainment of the population in 2017 - Educational attainment among foreign born persons 2017
Equal share of persons born in Sweden and foreign born persons have post-secondary education
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2018-12-05 9.30
The share of persons with post-secondary education is the equal among persons born in Sweden and foreign born persons aged 25 to 64 years. The share of highly educated persons – those with post-secondary education that is three years or longer – is also equal in size. The difference between the group of foreign born persons and the group of Swedish born persons is a higher percentage of persons with only compulsory education among the foreign born persons – 20 percent compared with 9 percent.
Educational attainment is generally higher among women than among men, both among Swedish born and foreign born persons, although the gap between the levels of education is slightly smaller between foreign born women and foreign born men.
| Sex | Population (number) | Compulsory education | Upper secondary education | Post-secondary education shorter than 3 years | Post-secondary education 3 years or longer | Percentage imputed values | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Total | 5 157 662 | 12 | 44 | 16 | 28 | 2 |
| Women | 2 532 975 | 10 | 41 | 16 | 33 | 2 | |
| Men | 2 624 687 | 14 | 48 | 16 | 23 | 3 | |
| Persons born in Sweden | Total | 3 919 796 | 9 | 47 | 16 | 28 | 0 |
| Women | 1 916 128 | 7 | 43 | 16 | 34 | 0 | |
| Men | 2 003 668 | 12 | 51 | 15 | 22 | 1 | |
| Foreign born persons | Total | 1 237 866 | 20 | 35 | 16 | 29 | 8 |
| Women | 616 847 | 20 | 33 | 16 | 31 | 6 | |
| Men | 621 019 | 20 | 37 | 16 | 26 | 9 |
High educational attainment among persons who immigrated between 2006–2017
Many of those who immigrated between 2006 and 2017 have a high level of education. Half of these immigrants have post-secondary education, which is more than the percentage among both foreign born persons who immigrated before 2006 and persons born in Sweden. Persons who immigrated in the last twelve years also have a younger age structure than the population aged from 25 to 64 years as a whole, which explains the high educational attainment.
| Year of immigration | Sex | Population (number) | Compulsory education | Upper secondary education | Post-secondary education shorter than 3 years | Post-secondary education 3 years or longer | Percentage imputed values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–2009 | Total | 171 293 | 21 | 33 | 15 | 31 | 5 |
| Women | 85 252 | 22 | 31 | 14 | 32 | 4 | |
| Men | 86 041 | 21 | 34 | 16 | 29 | 6 | |
| 2010–2013 | Total | 185 241 | 21 | 29 | 16 | 34 | 8 |
| Women | 90 965 | 23 | 26 | 16 | 36 | 6 | |
| Men | 94 276 | 20 | 32 | 17 | 32 | 11 | |
| 2014–2017 | Total | 275 730 | 23 | 23 | 21 | 33 | 23 |
| Women | 123 779 | 23 | 20 | 22 | 34 | 20 | |
| Men | 151 951 | 23 | 25 | 21 | 31 | 24 | |
| 2006–2017 | Total | 632 264 | 22 | 27 | 18 | 32 | 14 |
| Women | 299 996 | 23 | 25 | 18 | 34 | 11 | |
| Men | 332 268 | 21 | 29 | 18 | 31 | 16 |
The level of education varies widely between different groups of immigrants. In general, persons who have immigrated to Sweden for work or studies in the past twelve years have a high level of educational attainment, while persons who immigrated to Sweden as refugees in the same period have a lower level of educational attainment. In particular, a large percentage in this latter group has only attained compulsory education.
Statistical Database
More information is available in the Statistical Database
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.