Where Romania is heading, in data

Early school leaving

% of 18–24-year-olds with at most lower-secondary education, not in training

stagnant recent trend, computed over 2021–2025
010201997200220072012201720222025EU-27 average15.5Romania
the vertical dotted line marks a methodology change
rank 26 of 26 in the EU (2025) — last place in the EU

Young people who leave the system before finishing upper-secondary school. The rate fell visibly between 2015 and 2021, but has oscillated without clear progress since, and Romania remains near the top of the EU, with huge urban–rural gaps.

Source: Eurostat · Dataset: edat_lfse_14 · Open source

Where Romania stands in the EU (2025)

051015HRELIEPLSILTCZPTSESKFRBENLITBGMTLVHUCYFIATDKEEESDERO15.5EU-27 average

Year after year, Romania has one of the highest early school-leaving rates in the Union, far from the European target. The ranking is stable: the same few countries appear at the bottom, and Romania is rarely missing from them.

Compared with Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria

01020199720022007201220172022202515.5RomaniaHungaryEU-27 averageBulgariaPoland
the vertical dotted line marks a methodology change

Poland has had one of Europe's lowest rates for decades, a sign that the level is not a matter of geography or income, but of policy. Hungary and Bulgaria also do visibly better than Romania, despite starting from the same history.

The gaps between Romania's regions (2025)

13.818.312.825.118.17.918.08.77.925.1
Administrative boundaries: © EuroGeographics.
0102030200020052010201520202025regional max.15.5Romaniaregional min.
The shaded band spans, year by year, the distance between the highest-value region and the lowest. the vertical dotted line marks a methodology change

Early school leaving follows the same geography as poverty: low in the capital, high in the regions with large rural populations. Between regions the difference is not a few points, but a few times over.

Source: Eurostat · Dataset: edat_lfse_16 · Open source

Source and method

Across the period shown: from 19.7 % in 1997 to 15.5 % in 2025.

Source
Eurostat
Dataset
edat_lfse_14 — Early leavers from education and training by labour status
API address
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/api/dissemination/statistics/1.0/data/edat_lfse_14?format=JSON&lang=en&sex=T&wstatus=POP&age=Y18-24&unit=PC&geo=RO
Retrieved on
2026-07-08

Download the data: abandon-scolar.json · detail/abandon-scolar.json