Educational attainment of the population in Denmark 2023

Education is one of the key priorities in the Danish welfare system. In fact, Danes enjoy free primary schools, upper secondary schools, and universities. As of 2023, the most common type of education completed in Denmark was vocational education and training programs. Close to 28 percent of the population between 15 and 69 years of age had completed this education. Meanwhile, around one fourth had completed a primary education, whereas around 16 percent had completed a vocational bachelor education.

Primary and upper secondary education

Primary education comprises of ten years of compulsory education in Denmark. Over the past decade, there were fewer pupils in primary education, likely due to a general decrease in the number of births in recent years. Moreover, the number of students in upper secondary education decreased from 2017 after having increased until then.

Higher education

The same tendency can be observed for higher education: as of 2023, over 30 percent of the Danish population had attained a type of higher education. After having peaked in 2014, the number of university students decreased, reaching around 148,000 students as of 2021. Both the number of master and doctorate students in the country fluctuated over the past 10 years.