A study has analyzed how many people in a country hold a university degree. Germany is only in the midfield here, the leader is a European country.
Where does the ranking come from? The study by CBRE Research (PDF) is a comprehensive analysis of the supply, costs, and quality of the workforce. Education plays an important role in the data. CBRE is an internationally active real estate company that occasionally publishes education and labor market studies.
Especially in the area of education, Germany is surpassed by many other countries. Education is a forward-looking metric and a key component for the prospects of a technical workforce market.
Ireland and Switzerland are leading, Germany only in 20th place for education
Who are the leaders of the study? At the forefront of education are the countries Ireland, Switzerland, and Singapore. In all three countries, more than 45% of adults (ages 25-64) hold a university degree.
In Ireland, education is highly valued: over 70% of a cohort enroll in higher education. This is one of the highest rates in Europe. Accordingly, almost half of the population between 25 and 64 years old reports having at least one university degree (via daad.de). This is also reflected in the study by CBRE Research.
Where does Germany stand? Germany ranks 20th and thus in the midfield of the study: 32.9% of adults have a university degree, which in raw numbers is 17.7 million people.
Who occupies the last places? China and India. However, there is a special situation here: due to the large population, there are high absolute numbers that far exceed all other countries, but the percentages of university graduates are only low.
Education is seen as an important factor for long-term economic growth
Why is education so important? Education is one of the most important factors for the long-term economic growth of a country. Well-educated people are more productive, can better utilize new technologies, and are more likely to develop innovations that drive economic growth. Moreover, people with higher education are less frequently unemployed and earn on average more than those without a university degree.
Education alone does not guarantee growth, as other areas also play an important role in the development of a society. However, without education, sustainable growth is hardly possible (via boeckler.de). Therefore, experts generally consider it unsustainable to just pump millions into education while neglecting other areas.
Generation Z is pushing into the labor market. According to statistics, a large proportion has a university degree. However, this is exactly what becomes a downfall for some young people, as there are too many applicants for too few positions. In Germany, every 5th employee is overqualified: Generation Z is the best-educated generation in history: Unfortunately, it is also the most overqualified in the labor market
