Where Romania is heading, in data

Young people with tertiary education (25–34)

% of 25–34-year-olds

slowly declining recent trend, computed over 2021–2025
020401997200220072012201720222025EU-27 average23.0Romania
the vertical dotted line marks a methodology change
rank 27 of 27 in the EU (2025) — last place in the EU

The share of young adults holding a university degree, the fuel of an economy trying to move from "cheap" to "complex". Romania is last in the EU, far from the European target, and in recent years the share has slipped slightly rather than risen. Graduate emigration weighs further on the figure.

Source: Eurostat · Dataset: edat_lfse_03 · Open source

Where Romania stands in the EU (2025)

0204060IELULTCYNLFRSEBEDKESMTPLLVEEATELSIPTHRBGDEFISKCZHUITRO23.0EU-27 average

Romania is in the Union's last place for the share of university graduates among young adults, at less than half the level of the top countries.

Compared with Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria

020401997200220072012201720222025PolandEU-27 averageBulgariaHungary23.0Romania
the vertical dotted line marks a methodology change

Poland expanded higher education massively after the 1990s and has passed the European average; Bulgaria has moved close to that level too, while Hungary advanced more slowly. Romania remains last in the group, with a peak in the 2010s and little movement since.

The gaps between Romania's regions (2025)

22.820.619.016.416.747.320.417.316.447.3
Administrative boundaries: © EuroGeographics.
0204060200020052010201520202025regional max.23.0Romaniaregional 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

The concentration is extreme: graduates gather where the universities and employers are, above all in the capital, where the share is several times higher than in the southern and eastern regions.

Source: Eurostat · Dataset: edat_lfse_04 · Open source

Source and method

Across the period shown: from 11.4 % in 1997 to 23.0 % in 2025.

Source
Eurostat
Dataset
edat_lfse_03 — Population in private households by educational attainment level
API address
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/api/dissemination/statistics/1.0/data/edat_lfse_03?format=JSON&lang=en&sex=T&age=Y25-34&unit=PC&isced11=ED5-8&geo=RO
Retrieved on
2026-07-08

Download the data: studii-superioare.json · detail/studii-superioare.json