On 16 September, the OECD released its 2021 edition of Education at a Glance, the authoritative source for information on the state of education around the world.
It provides data on the structure, finances and performance of education systems across OECD countries and partner economies, looking at everything from the organisation of schools and schooling to the financial resources invested in education institutions.
The 2021 edition of Education at a Glance has a focus on equity in education, offering an assessment of where OECD and partner countries stand in providing equal access to quality education at all levels.
This year’s edition is also accompanied by a spotlight on the impact of COVID-19 in education.
In this presentation, OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher presents the key findings.
Read the report and watch the presentation -- https://oe.cd/EAG
2. Children normally spend at least 800 hours per year
in the classroom on average
Annual compulsory instruction time in general education (2021)
In hours, in primary and lower secondary education, in public institutions
Table D1.1.
0
200
400
600
800
1 000
1 200
1 400
Poland
Russian
Federation
Latvia
Lithuania
Korea
Finland
Estonia
Slovak
Republic
Hungary
Slovenia
Czech
Republic
Austria
Sweden
Turkey
Germany
Iceland
Greece
Norway
EU22
average
Japan
Spain
Brazil
Mexico
Switzerland
OECD
average
Belgium
(Fl)
Belgium
(Fr)
France
Italy
Portugal
Ireland
Canada
Luxembourg
Israel
Netherlands
United
States
Australia
Colombia
Denmark
Chile
Costa
Rica
Average
compulsory
instruction
hours
per
year
Primary Lower secondary
3. The higher the education level, the longer schools
were closed
Number of instruction days (excluding school holidays, public holidays and weekends)
where schools were fully closed in 2020 and 2021 (until May 20)
COVID Fig 2
0
25
50
75
100
125
150
175
200
225
250
275
300
Mexico
Poland
Costa
Rica
Hungary
Czech
Republic
Colombia
Turkey
Latvia
Lithuania
Slovenia
Israel
Austria
OECD
average
Chile
Estonia
Portugal
England
(UK)
Denmark
Germany
Sweden
Ireland
Switzerland
Korea
Finland
France
Belgium
Spain
Netherlands
Norway
Luxembourg
New
Zealand
Upper secondary general education Pre-primary education Primary education Lower secondary education
# days
4. Schools were closed for longer periods of time in
countries with lower education performance
PISA 2018 performance in reading and number of instructional days upper secondary schools were fully closed in 2020 and in 2021
COVID database
The size of the bubbles represent the number of COVID-19 cases per million inhabitant from the start of the pandemic to Mai 20 2021. Higher is the
size of the circle, higher was the number of COVID-19 cases in 2020 and 2021.
5. Schools were closed for longer periods of time in
countries with lower education performance
PISA 2018 performance in reading and number of instructional days upper secondary schools were fully closed in 2020 and in 2021
COVID database
The size of the bubbles represent the number of COVID-19 cases per million inhabitant from the start of the pandemic to Mai 20 2021. Higher is the
size of the circle, higher was the number of COVID-19 cases in 2020 and 2021.
6. Students from lower socio-economic
backgrounds are at a higher risk of
disengaging from remote learning
7. In some countries, more than 5% of students repeat a grade
Share of repeaters in lower and upper secondary education (2019)
Figure B1.2.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Spain
Belgium
Portugal
Greece
Chile
Austria
Colombia
Saudi
Arabia
Germany
Indonesia
EU22
average
Costa
Rica
Estonia
Italy
Slovak
Republic
OECD
average
United
States
Hungary
Poland
Luxembourg
Latvia
France
Switzerland
Israel
Denmark
Mexico
Slovenia
Turkey
Czech
Republic
Lithuania
Finland
Russian
Federation
Ireland
Korea
%
Lower secondary Upper secondary
8. Parents’ education tends to influence students’ own
educational pathway
Share of entrants to upper secondary education, by programme orientation and parents’ educational attainment (2018)
Figure B3.4.
55 48
15
73
41
49
13
54
34
46
38
65
33
21
4
55
27
60
28
58
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
All
General
Vocational
General
Vocational
General
Vocational
General
Vocational
General
Vocational
General
Vocational
General
Vocational
General
Vocational
General
Vocational
All
Den-
mark
Estonia Finland France Iceland Israel Norway Portugal Sweden SwitzerlandUnited
States
Below upper secondary Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary Tertiary Unknown
Parents’ educational attainment
9. High tuition fees can deter students from pursuing a
tertiary education
Average, minimum and maximum tuition fees charged by public institutions and average amount of tuition fee waivers for national
students enrolled in bachelor's programmes (academic year 2019/20)
Figure C5.2.
0
5 000
10 000
15 000
20 000
England
(UK)
United
States
Chile
Ireland
Japan
Canada
Australia
Korea
Latvia
New
Zealand
Lithuania
Israel
Netherlands
Italy
Spain
Flemish
Comm.
(Belgium)
Austria
France
French
Comm.
(Belgium)
Germany
Denmark
Finland
Norway
Sweden
Turkey
USD converted
using PPPs
Average (or most common) tuition fee Minimum tuition fee
Maximum tuition fee Average (or most common) tuition fee waiver
10. Although international mobility can be high in some countries... Figure B6.2.
Incoming student mobility in tertiary education, by level of study (2019)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Australia
New
Zealand
United
Kingdom
Switzerland
Austria
Canada
Czech
Republic
Hungary
Estonia
Ireland
Denmark
Latvia
Germany
Belgium
Portugal
France
Slovak
Republic
Iceland
Finland
EU22
total
Sweden
Slovenia
OECD
total
Lithuania
Japan
United
States
Saudi
Arabia
Norway
Russian
Federation
Poland
Spain
South
Africa
Greece
Argentina
Korea
Israel
Italy
Turkey
Chile
Mexico
China
Brazil
Colombia
India
Indonesia
% All tertiary Bachelor's or equivalent Master's or equivalent Doctoral or equivalent
11. …students from low and lower-middle income countries represent
less than a third of international students in the OECD region Figure B6.1.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Korea
Russian
Federation
Saudi
Arabia
Turkey
Indonesia
Japan
India
South
Africa
Australia
Portugal
Poland
New
Zealand
Canada
Colombia
Chile
France
Argentina
United
States
Brazil
Italy
OECD
total
Latvia
Lithuania
Finland
Hungary
Spain
Estonia
Germany
EU22
total
United
Kingdom
Ireland
Israel
Norway
Czech
Republic
Slovak
Republic
Sweden
Iceland
Luxembourg
Austria
Switzerland
Netherlands
Denmark
Belgium
Greece
% Low Lower-middle Upper-middle High Unallocated by income
Distribution of incoming international students by origin countries’ income level (2019)
13. Across the OECD, almost one in five young adults
has not attained upper secondary education
Share of 25-34 year-olds with below upper secondary attainment (2020)
Figure A1.2.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
India
China
Mexico
South
Africa
Costa
Rica
Indonesia
Turkey
Spain
Argentina
Brazil
Colombia
Iceland
Italy
Portugal
Denmark
Norway
Sweden
Chile
OECD
average
Belgium
Luxembourg
New
Zealand
Germany
United
Kingdom
Hungary
EU22
average
France
Estonia
Austria
Latvia
Netherlands
Greece
Australia
Israel
Slovak
Republic
Czech
Republic
Lithuania
Finland
Ireland
Poland
Switzerland
United
States
Canada
Russian
Federation
Slovenia
Korea
%
14. Youth with lower educational attainment are more
likely to have lower employment prospects…
Employment rate of 25-34 year-old adults by educational attainment (2020)
Table A3.2.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Iceland
Portugal
Luxembourg
Estonia
Indonesia
New
Zealand
Switzerland
Netherlands
United
Kingdom
Mexico
Latvia
Colombia
Norway
Korea
Germany
Sweden
Costa
Rica
Czech
Republic
Spain
OECD
average
Australia
Austria
United
States
EU22
average
Greece
Brazil
Hungary
Canada
Slovenia
Lithuania
France
Israel
Italy
Finland
Belgium
Poland
Ireland
Slovak
Republic
South
Africa
Below upper secondary Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary Tertiary
%
15. …and are more likely to earn below half the median
Percentage of adults with below upper secondary attainment earning at or below half the median (2019)
Figure A4.3.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Norway
Germany
Ireland
United
States
Colombia
Spain
Canada
Slovak
Republic
France
Greece
Netherlands
Mexico
Austria
Denmark
Turkey
Switzerland
Finland
Italy
Czech
Republic
Hungary
OECD
average
Lithuania
Israel
Estonia
Chile
EU22
average
Sweden
Korea
Costa
Rica
New
Zealand
Australia
Luxembourg
United
Kingdom
Belgium
Portugal
Latvia
Poland
Slovenia
%
16. Different from the financial crisis, American college graduates
have been harder hit than poorly qualified youths
Change in the unemployment rate of 25-34 year-olds by educational attainment, between 2019 and 2020
Table A3.3.
- 10
- 8
- 6
- 4
- 2
0
2
4
6
8
10
Costa
Rica
Sweden
Latvia
Colombia
Austria
Lithuania
Canada
Spain
Slovenia
Switzerland
Norway
Hungary
Estonia
Brazil
Portugal
New
Zealand
Australia
Israel
Ireland
OECD
average
Belgium
EU22
average
Netherlands
Iceland
Mexico
Indonesia
United
Kingdom
Poland
Germany
Finland
Korea
Czech
Republic
United
States
Italy
France
Greece
Slovak
Republic
Percentage
points
Below upper secondary Tertiary
Higher unemployment in 2020 than in 2019
Lower unemployment in 2020 than in 2019
18. Adults with tertiary education can expect to live 5 years
more than those with below upper secondary education
Difference in life expectancy at age 30 between those with tertiary attainment and those with below upper secondary attainment, by gender (2017)
Figure A6.1.
- 2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Slovak
Republic
Poland
Estonia
Hungary
Israel
France
Canada
Denmark
EU22
average
Finland
Average
Slovenia
Norway
Belgium
Netherlands
Sweden
Iceland
Czech
Republic
Portugal
Italy
Spain
Turkey
Greece
Total (men and women) Men Women
Years
Life expectancey of tertiary-educated adults is higher than for adults with below
upper secondary education
19. They are also more likely to be in good physical
shape
Proportion of adults doing at least 180 minutes of physical activity per week, by educational attainment (2017)
Figure A6.5.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Estonia
Slovak
Republic
New
Zealand
Denmark
Netherlands
United
Kingdom
Sweden
Slovenia
Ireland
Switzerland
Finland
Canada
Luxembourg
Australia
Poland
OECD
average
EU22
average
Germany
Spain
Czech
Republic
Norway
Lithuania
United
States
Latvia
Italy
Greece
France
Belgium
Hungary
Israel
Austria
Portugal
Below upper secondary Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary Tertiary
%
20. Migration is also profoundly changing our
communities and education systems
21. In the US, half of adults without upper secondary education
are foreign-born
Share of foreign-born adults among all 25-64 year-olds, by level of educational attainment (2020)
Figure A1.5.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Switzerland
Luxembourg
Sweden
United
States
Austria
Belgium
France
Canada
Slovenia
Australia
Netherlands
OECD
average
Israel
EU22
average
Italy
Spain
New
Zealand
Denmark
Greece
Costa
Rica
United
Kingdom
Ireland
Czech
Republic
Latvia
Estonia
Portugal
Lithuania
Hungary
Chile
Slovak
Republic
Mexico
Below upper secondary Tertiary
%
22. A tertiary degree does not always lead to a job in
migrants’ host country…
Employment rates of native- and foreign-born 25-64 year-olds with tertiary attainment, by age at arrival in the country (2020)
Figure A3.3.
50
60
70
80
90
100
Sweden
Switzerland
Netherlands
Slovenia
Lithuania
New
Zealand
Poland
Austria
Portugal
Belgium
Denmark
Israel
Latvia
Australia
United
Kingdom
EU22
average
France
Ireland
Estonia
Luxembourg
Hungary
OECD
average
Czech
Republic
Chile
Slovak
Republic
United
States
Italy
Spain
Canada
Costa
Rica
Mexico
Greece
Native-born adults Foreign-born: Arrived in the country by the age of 15
Foreign-born: Arrived in the country at 16 or older
%
23. …nor to higher earnings
Earnings of foreign-born workers as a percentage of earnings of native-born workers, by educational attainment (2019)
Figure A4.5.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
150
160
Chile
United
States
Slovenia
France
Turkey
Switzerland
OECD
average
Luxembourg
United
Kingdom
Israel
Denmark
Sweden
Latvia
Australia
Norway
Germany
Costa
Rica
Belgium
Canada
Austria
New
Zealand
Estonia
Finland
Italy
Spain
Tertiary Below upper secondary Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary
%
25. Enrolment rate of 3-5 year-olds, by region
Regional variation of the enrolment rate of 3-5 year-olds (2019)
OECD.stat
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Switzerland
United
States
Greece
Chile
Slovak
Republic
United
Kingdom
Portugal
Austria
France
Korea
Lithuania
Italy
Spain
Finland
Czech
Republic
Poland
Germany
Belgium
Hungary
Sweden
Slovenia
Norway
Denmark
Ireland
%
26. Public-to-private transfers in pre-primary education
Distribution of public and private expenditure on educational institutions in pre-primary education (2018)
Figure B2.3.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Japan
United
Kingdom
Portugal
Australia
Chile
Colombia
Turkey
United
States
Denmark
Slovenia
Italy
Korea
OECD
average
Spain
Poland
New
Zealand
Germany
Slovak
Republic
Norway
Lithuania
Austria
Iceland
EU22
average
Netherlands
Greece
Hungary
Czech
Republic
Israel
Finland
France
Sweden
Latvia
Belgium
Luxembourg
Private expenditure Public-to-private transfers Public expenditure
%
28. Most repeaters in lower secondary schools are boys
Share of boys among repeaters in lower and upper secondary education (2019)
Figure B1.2.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Israel
Lithuania
Turkey
Mexico
Poland
Italy
Indonesia
Latvia
Slovenia
Greece
Hungary
Korea
OECD
average
Germany
France
Costa
Rica
EU22
average
Portugal
Czech
Republic
Spain
Belgium
Estonia
Colombia
Austria
Chile
Switzerland
Finland
Luxembourg
United
States
Slovak
Republic
Denmark
Russian
Federation
Ireland
Saudi
Arabia
% Lower secondary Upper secondary
29. Boys are more likely to pursue vocational rather than
general programmes at upper secondary level
Share of men among upper secondary graduates, by programme orientation (2019)
Figure B3.1bis
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
Hungary
Iceland
Estonia
Lithuania
Greece
Poland
Italy
Germany
Norway
Sweden
Korea
Denmark
Japan
Russian
Federation
Latvia
EU22
average
Slovenia
Czech
Republic
Switzerland
Slovak
Republic
OECD
average
Austria
France
Belgium
Chile
Turkey
Australia
Luxembourg
Portugal
Canada
Spain
Netherlands
Israel
Mexico
Costa
Rica
United
Kingdom
Finland
Colombia
Brazil
New
Zealand
Ireland
United
States
Vocational General
30. And less likely to graduate from tertiary education
before the age of 30
First-time tertiary graduation rates for national students below the age of 30 by gender (2019)
Figure B5.1.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Spain
Turkey
Denmark
Lithuania
United
Kingdom
Norway
Portugal
Chile
Netherlands
Slovenia
Germany
Switzerland
Finland
OECD
average
Austria
EU22
average
Australia
New
Zealand
Greece
Italy
Latvia
Iceland
Sweden
Estonia
Slovak
Republic
Czech
Republic
Hungary
% Men Women
31. Women are less likely to enter a science, technology,
engineering, or mathematics (STEM) field of study…
Share of female new entrants into tertiary education, by field of education (2019)
Figure B4.1.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Education
Health
and
welfare
Social
sciences,
journalism
and
information
Arts
and
humanities
Business,
administration
and
law
Agriculture,
forestry,
fisheries
and
veterinary
Natural
sciences,
mathematics
and
statistics
Services
Engineering,
manufacturing
and
construction
Information
and
communication
technologies
% OECD average 20th percentile 80th percentile Highest Lowest
32. …but women are much more likely to become teachers
Percentage of women among teaching staff in public and private institutions (2019)
Figure D5.1.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Russian
Federation
Lithuania
Latvia
Finland
New
Zealand
United
States
Canada
Estonia
Belgium
Israel
Norway
Slovak
Republic
Netherlands
United
Kingdom
Poland
Brazil
Ireland
Sweden
Portugal
France
Turkey
EU22
average
Spain
OECD
average
Costa
Rica
Denmark
Austria
Slovenia
India
Saudi
Arabia
Hungary
Germany
Colombia
Czech
Republic
Italy
Greece
Switzerland
Korea
Luxembourg
Japan
Tertiary Secondary Primary Pre-primary
%
33. The relative earnings of male teachers to similarly
educated peers are much lower than those of women
Relative salaries of lower secondary teachers (2020)
Ratio of actual salaries to the earnings of full-time, full-year workers with tertiary education
0.0
0.3
0.5
0.8
1.0
1.3
1.5
1.8
2.0
Costa
Rica
Latvia
Portugal
Finland
England
(UK)
Netherlands
Australia
France
Slovenia
OECD
average
EU22
average
New
Zealand
Israel
Austria
Ireland
Sweden
Greece
Denmark
Belgium
(Fl.)
Belgium
(Fr.)
Chile
Norway
Czech
Republic
Italy
United
States
Hungary
Men Women
Figure D3.6.
35. On average, it costs about 100K USD for a 6-15 year-old
to go through education on average
Cumulative expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student between the age of 6 and 15 (2018),
in USD converted using PPP
Figure C1.1.
0
50 000
100 000
150 000
200 000
250 000
Luxembourg
Norway
Austria
Iceland
United
States
Korea
Sweden
Belgium
United
Kingdom
Australia
Denmark
Finland
Netherlands
Germany
Canada
Italy
France
EU22
average
OECD
average
Slovenia
New
Zealand
Japan
Portugal
Ireland
Spain
Czech
Republic
Estonia
Poland
Greece
Slovak
Republic
Israel
Latvia
Lithuania
Chile
Hungary
Turkey
Colombia
Mexico
Pre-primary education Primary education
Lower secondary education Upper secondary education
USD
36. Spending per student at tertiary level is about 60%
higher than at lower levels of education
Total expenditure on tertiary educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, by type of service (2018),
In USD converted using PPPs
Figure C1.3.b.
0
5 000
10 000
15 000
20 000
25 000
30 000
35 000
40 000
45 000
50 000
Luxembourg
United
States
United
Kingdom
Sweden
Norway
Canada
Netherlands
Australia
Belgium
Austria
Denmark
Germany
Japan
Finland
New
Zealand
Estonia
France
Ireland
OECD
average
EU22
average
Czech
Republic
Iceland
Slovenia
Spain
Hungary
Israel
Italy
Slovak
Republic
Portugal
Korea
Poland
Latvia
Turkey
Lithuania
Russian
Federation
Chile
Mexico
Greece
Colombia
Core services Ancillary services R&D Total
USD
37. Public expenditure on education has increased
between 2012 and 2018 in most OECD countries
Change in total public expenditure on education between 2012 and 2018
Figure C4.2.
- 40
- 20
0
20
40
60
Costa
Rica
Turkey
Colombia
Chile
Estonia
Israel
Latvia
Slovak
Republic
Poland
Iceland
Luxembourg
Hungary
Lithuania
Switzerland
Sweden
Canada
OECD
average
Mexico
Germany
Czech
Republic
United
States
Argentina
EU22
average
France
Austria
Slovenia
Finland
Japan
United
Kingdom
Belgium
Netherlands
Russian
Federation
Italy
Portugal
Brazil
Spain
Greece
Primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary Tertiary
%
38. In effective education systems, how funds are
spent is as important as how much is being spent
39. Equity criteria in funding formulas help ensure resources
are directed to where they are the most needed
Share of total funding allocated by central and state governments to primary and lower secondary educational institutions by equity criteria (2019)
Figure D6.4.
0 5 10 15 20 25
The number or proportion of low-income students
The number or proportion of students with disabilities
The number or proportion of students with an immigrant background
Schools (or most local level of governance) serving poor or disadvantaged
communities
Schools (or most local level of governance) that are in remote or high cost
locations/regions
Schools (or most local level of governance) with special subject offerings (i.e.
minority language)
The number or proportion of low-income people in the
state/region/province/municipality
The number or proportion of people with an immigrant background in the
state/region/province/municipality
States/regions/provinces/municipalities in remote and/or rural locations
The number or proportion of people who belong to minority communities in the
state/region/province/municipality
The number or proportion of people who belong to disadvantaged communities in
the state/region/province/municipality
Student
characteristics
School
characteristics
Population
characteristics
Number of countries
Large Medium Small Unknown Not used
HUN
POL
BRA&HUN
AUS&BRA
HUN&IRL&POL&USA
AUS&CHL&ENG&HUN&IRL&USA
AUS&AUT&BRA&CHL&ISR&POL&USA
AUT&BFR&NLD&USA
BFR&HUN&LVA
LVA
IRL
COL
40. Yet in many countries, teacher salaries are low…
Lower secondary teachers' actual salaries relative to earnings for tertiary-educated workers (2020)
-
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
Costa
Rica
Latvia
Portugal
Lithuania
Germany
Finland
Estonia
England
(UK)
Israel
OECD
average
EU22
average
Australia
Ireland
Slovenia
Netherlands
France
New
Zealand
Austria
Denmark
Sweden
Belgium
(Fl.)
Greece
Chile
Norway
Belgium
(Fr.)
Czech
Republic
Slovak
Republic
Italy
United
States
Hungary
Figure D3.1.
41. …and the earnings progression is flat
Lower secondary teachers’ average actual salaries compared to the statutory starting and top of the scale salaries (2020)
Annual salaries of teachers in public institutions, in equivalent USD converted using PPPs
Figure D3.2.
0
20 000
40 000
60 000
80 000
100 000
120 000
140 000
Luxembourg
Germany
Switzerland
Denmark
Spain
Netherlands
Australia
Austria
Norway
United
States
Sweden
Scotland
(UK)
Belgium
(Fl.)
Finland
Iceland
Belgium
(Fr.)
Canada
Ireland
EU22
average
OECD
average
Italy
France
Portugal
New
Zealand
Korea
England
(UK)
Slovenia
Turkey
Japan
Lithuania
Mexico
Czech
Republic
Chile
Estonia
Israel
Colombia
Greece
Poland
Slovak
Republic
Latvia
Hungary
Costa
Rica
Brazil
Starting salary/minimum qualifications Salary at top of scale/maximum qualifications
USD
42. -3 500
-2 500
-1 500
- 500
500
1 500
2 500
3 500
Germany
Denmark
Switzerland
Norway
Belgium
(Fl)
Austria
Belgium
(Fr)
Canada
Australia
Slovenia
Ireland
Iceland
Netherlands
Spain
Portugal
Italy
Finland
Greece
Japan
Poland
Costa
Rica
Chile
Israel
Lithuania
Hungary
France
Estonia
Turkey
Colombia
Czech
Rep.
Mexico
Latvia
Slovak
Rep.
Contribution of teachers' salary Contribution of instruction time
Contribution of teaching time Contribution of theoretical class size
Difference of salary cost of teachers per student from OECD average
Various factors contribute to the total salary cost of
teachers per student
Contribution of various factors to salary cost of teachers per student in public institutions, primary education (2019)
Figure C7.2.
High salary cost Moderately high salary cost Moderately low salary cost Low salary cost
USD
43. Find out more about our work at www.oecd.org/edu
– All publications
– The complete micro-level database
Thank you
Notes de l'éditeur
It might be interseting to contrast this with the share of adults without upper secondary education in the US (8%) to give this context.