The bar chart illustrates the percentage of young people from six countries who attended university in 2000 and 2007.
Overall, Poland and Finland had the highest percentages of young people enrolled in university, while Italy recorded the lowest figure in 2000. Most countries experienced an increase between 2000 and 2007, particularly Poland and Italy. In contrast, Spain and Norway saw slight declines, and Finland’s percentage remained unchanged.
In Italy, the UK, and Poland, the percentage of young people enrolled in universities rose during this period. In 2000, 38% of Italian youth and 64% of Polish youth pursued higher education; by 2007, these figures had increased by 14 percentage points, reaching 52% and 78%, respectively. Similarly, the proportion of young people attending university in the UK rose from 46% to 54%.
Conversely, Spain and Norway experienced slight decreases in the proportion of young people attending university. In Spain, this figure fell from 46% in 2000 to 41% in 2007, while Norway witnessed a marginal decline from 66% to 65%. Meanwhile, the percentage of Finnish youth studying at university remained unchanged at 70% for both years.
