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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.

Educational attainment among persons born in Sweden/foreign born persons, by sex, 2017, 25–64 years. Percent
 SexPopulation (number)Compulsory educationUpper secondary educationPost-secondary education shorter than 3 yearsPost-secondary education 3 years or longerPercentage 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.

Foreign born persons (25–64 years) in 2017, by educational attainment, latest year of immigration and sex. Year of immigration 2006–2017. Percent
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.

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