The bar chart illustrates the percentage of young people from six countries who enrolled at a university in 2000 and 2007.
Overall, Poland and Finland recorded the highest proportions of university students, while Italy had the lowest figure in 2000. Half of the nations experienced growth over the period. By contrast, Spain and Norway saw slight declines, whereas Finland’s data remained unchanged.
In Italy, the UK, and Poland, the proportion of young people admitted to university increased between 2000 and 2007. Italy and Poland recorded the largest rises, with their figures climbing from 38% to 52% and from 64% to 78%, respectively. Likewise, the percentage in the UK grew from 46% to 54%.
Conversely, Spain and Norway experienced a modest decrease in university participation. Spain’s rate fell from 46% in 2000 to 41% in 2007, while Norway’s fell marginally from 66% to 65%. Meanwhile, Finland’s participation level remained steady at 70% in both years.