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Only 29 Percent of Czechs Have a Higher Education Degree, OECD Finds
Prague Morning
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Only 29 percent of people aged 25 to 64 in Czechia have completed higher education, according to the latest data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The figures highlight a persistent difference in the country’s education profile compared with other developed economies. While university-level education remains less common in Czechia, upper secondary education is far more widespread.
Around two-thirds of Czech adults have completed upper secondary education, compared with an OECD average of 39 percent. Vocational secondary education remains particularly common, although its share is gradually declining, as younger generations attain higher levels of education.
The change is most visible when comparing age groups. Vocational secondary education is the highest level of education for around 70 percent of Czech residents aged 55 to 64. Among people aged 25 to 34, the figure has fallen to 52 percent.
Across the OECD, the proportion of younger adults completing higher education has continued to increase. Czechia, however, is also facing a less positive trend at the lower end of the education scale.
Among 25- to 34-year-olds, the share of people who have not completed upper secondary education increased from 6 percent in 2015 to 7 percent in 2025. The trend is moving in the opposite direction across the OECD as a whole, where the average fell to 12 percent last year.
Young Czechs have relatively low unemployment
Despite the country’s comparatively low share of university graduates, Czechia performs well on several employment indicators.
In 2025, just 7 percent of people aged 18 to 24 were neither in education nor employment. The OECD average was twice as high, at 14 percent.
The unemployment rate among recent graduates has also declined over the past decade. In Czechia, it fell from 3 percent in 2015 to 2 percent in 2025. The corresponding OECD average was 5 percent.
Education is reflected in Czech wages
The OECD data also show a clear relationship between educational attainment and earnings in Czechia.
People whose highest qualification is general secondary education, including graduates of gymnasiums, earn an average of 8 percent less than the national average wage.
The difference is larger for people with vocational secondary education, whose earnings are 16 percent below the national average. Those who have not completed secondary education earn 33 percent less on average.
Higher education is also associated with greater access to remote work. Around 31 percent of Czech employees with a university education work remotely at least occasionally. Among workers with secondary education, the proportion is approximately 10 percent.
Czech education spending remains below OECD average
The OECD report also points to differences in public investment.
In 2023, public expenditure on education from primary schools through universities amounted to 3.6 percent of GDP in Czechia. The average across OECD countries was 4 percent.
Czechia also spent less per student than the OECD average. Annual expenditure stood at $11,861 per student, compared with $13,601 across OECD countries.
The figures are included in the OECD’s latest assessment of education systems in member countries, covering education levels, employment outcomes, earnings and public spending.
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