Period, quarters Less than 8 grades of primary school 8 grades of primary education Secondary education without G. C. E. and with qualification Secondary education with G. C. E. Tertiary education Total
and without qualification and with qualification bachelor or equivalent master or equivalenta
Total
2009 Q1 7.8 125.8 138.8 30.8 69.2 25.6 5.7 403.6
Q2 8.1 118.6 137.4 31.1 73.5 23.8 7.8 400.3
Q3 6.5 125.3 148.9 33.8 77.4 28.1 11.2 431.2
Q4 7.3 126.1 146.4 35.5 77.5 30.8 11.1 434.7
2010 Q1 8.9 140.8 170.3 40.8 90.6 29.5 13.0 493.8
Q2 9.8 134.4 159.6 35.7 89.4 28.1 13.5 470.6
Q3 10.4 123.9 147.6 37.0 90.3 33.3 15.4 457.9
Q4 11.8 130.0 148.4 37.8 84.8 27.8 13.5 454.1
2011 Q1 12.3 141.7 168.2 38.4 87.6 31.0 13.0 492.2
Q2 10.9 124.4 156.7 37.6 89.2 26.9 12.6 458.3
Q3 9.9 124.9 149.7 41.4 85.7 31.2 13.6 456.3
Q4 9.7 126.5 146.0 41.2 88.4 31.1 12.1 455.0
2012 Q1 11.6 138.2 164.7 43.4 100.0 32.5 15.5 506.0
Q2 10.4 124.9 156.7 44.4 88.5 32.6 14.4 471.9
Q3 7.8 122.5 141.9 46.9 87.9 31.1 15.5 453.7
Q4 8.2 122.6 149.9 48.2 83.9 32.6 14.1 459.5
2013 Q1 10.2 131.7 170.5 45.8 93.2 30.9 12.4 494.7
Q2 8.8 118.0 146.0 43.0 81.5 30.5 11.9 439.8
Q3 6.5 118.5 138.8 41.4 81.3 29.4 13.0 428.9
Q4 7.9 107.8 125.7 38.6 77.8 28.3 11.3 397.4
2014 Q1 7.3 96.7 110.7 40.3 71.9 25.3 10.8 363.0
Q2 10.0 101.2 113.2 34.4 65.5 23.2 11.3 358.8
Q3 8.0 94.8 96.3 37.1 59.9 25.4 9.9 331.4
Q4 5.9 95.2 97.9 29.7 55.4 24.3 9.9 318.3
2015 Q1 10.2 105.5 109.6 32.8 60.5 21.1 7.7 347.3
Q2 9.3 96.8 88.3 34.1 53.9 18.3 9.6 310.3
Q3 6.2 88.3 84.9 32.1 50.2 20.2 10.5 292.4
Q4 7.0 88.4 83.2 31.3 45.7 15.6 9.3 280.6
2016 Q1 6.5 81.3 85.5 34.2 39.8 16.1 9.0 272.6
Q2 5.9 75.1 69.8 28.1 37.7 9.9 7.6 234.1
Q3 5.2 71.0 63.8 25.9 37.2 11.9 11.1 226.2
Q4 6.0 65.8 57.1 24.6 33.7 10.2 7.6 205.0
2017 Q1 6.5 66.6 56.7 23.2 30.8 14.2 8.6 206.6
Q2 7.1 63.7 54.1 26.2 27.4 11.5 6.3 196.2
Q3 6.6 55.1 53.7 28.6 27.5 12.2 4.5 188.2
Q4 6.5 51.6 49.7 24.4 25.0 12.4 5.5 175.2
2018 Q1 6.6 54.9 46.8 24.3 26.0 9.5 6.4 174.6
Q2 4.9 56.2 43.0 20.1 24.8 7.6 5.8 162.4
Q3 4.1 47.7 45.6 23.0 30.9 13.5 10.3 175.0
Q4 5.0 51.7 46.2 17.7 27.4 9.7 8.1 165.7
2019 Q1 6.3 51.8 45.2 20.4 21.7 9.2 9.2 163.8
Q2 4.6 49.2 47.2 16.8 20.7 7.8 9.0 155.4
Q3 3.8 48.7 41.1 19.7 24.9 12.9 10.8 162.0
Q4 3.9 44.9 37.2 20.8 27.1 7.3 9.2 150.3
2020 Q1 5.1 51.1 47.2 21.4 26.8 11.5 8.6 171.7
Q2 2.9 52.0 60.1 32.7 40.0 15.5 9.3 212.5
Q3 5.4 53.0 57.0 28.2 40.2 11.6 11.3 206.6
Q4 4.8 52.9 53.6 22.4 32.2 15.3 12.8 194.1
2021 Q1 3.8 54.9 56.5 33.7 34.0 15.7 14.5 213.0
Q2 4.7 53.0 50.4 31.5 30.1 12.5 13.0 195.1
Q3 3.4 52.9 48.9 29.4 29.4 13.0 10.6 187.5
Q4 3.9 53.1 44.4 24.9 26.6 12.0 13.3 178.2
2022 Q1 3.3 54.8 46.0 20.2 30.4 13.1 10.8 178.5
Q2 2.7 50.6 42.4 15.4 26.4 9.3 7.2 153.9
Q3 4.4 50.9 45.0 21.7 28.1 13.7 11.6 175.3
Q4 3.2 64.8 47.8 21.4 29.8 13.1 8.2 188.3
2023 Q1 3.3 66.0 55.4 16.4 33.7 14.3 7.9 197.0
Q2 4.3 64.7 47.4 24.2 29.5 14.8 6.9 191.6
Q3 3.7 57.6 50.1 23.4 37.3 15.5 10.8 198.3
Q4 3.1 65.3 55.8 25.9 39.8 17.9 10.2 217.9
2024 Q1 5.7 70.0 58.1 27.0 36.5 17.2 12.4 226.8
Q2 5.7 66.8 55.3 26.2 35.5 10.6 14.0 213.9
Q3 4.2 55.7 57.1 27.5 47.6 15.7 17.0 224.6
Q4 4.9 60.7 56.6 26.1 39.4 15.0 13.6 216.3
2025 Q1 4.7 65.4 56.3 18.0 43.6 13.2 11.6 212.8
Q2
Q3
Q4
Of which:
male
2009 Q1 4.0 71.5 90.9 11.5 33.0 10.5 3.8 225.4
Q2 4.2 65.6 89.9 13.3 36.9 9.1 4.9 224.0
Q3 3.7 69.2 98.4 13.1 39.2 9.1 6.1 238.9
Q4 3.3 67.3 96.0 13.4 41.0 11.2 7.0 239.1
2010 Q1 3.9 80.5 114.9 16.0 45.3 13.9 8.3 282.9
Q2 4.6 75.9 111.1 12.1 42.1 13.2 8.0 266.9
Q3 4.5 68.8 98.6 11.5 42.9 14.9 7.8 248.9
Q4 5.1 74.0 98.9 11.2 40.3 11.6 7.1 248.2
2011 Q1 5.6 78.3 116.9 10.7 42.6 13.7 7.1 274.9
Q2 4.5 64.3 105.9 10.7 41.5 10.7 7.5 245.1
Q3 4.8 66.4 97.6 14.3 40.6 11.5 8.1 243.3
Q4 4.3 67.5 93.4 16.3 43.5 11.3 6.3 242.6
2012 Q1 6.0 75.6 110.2 17.6 48.9 13.7 8.5 280.5
Q2 6.0 66.5 107.8 20.8 43.9 14.6 6.6 266.3
Q3 4.5 65.4 96.1 20.6 44.9 11.2 7.8 250.5
Q4 3.9 66.9 98.3 21.0 43.3 11.3 6.3 251.0
2013 Q1 5.6 75.6 116.1 18.0 49.2 12.3 5.5 282.4
Q2 4.8 62.9 94.7 18.0 39.5 10.1 5.7 235.7
Q3 3.1 65.5 87.8 17.3 37.8 9.9 7.1 228.6
Q4 4.7 57.5 77.6 17.2 36.3 10.1 7.0 210.3
2014 Q1 3.3 52.4 72.5 14.5 35.6 8.0 5.8 192.0
Q2 5.3 52.7 70.6 12.8 34.2 9.6 6.3 191.5
Q3 3.5 51.2 61.4 14.7 26.9 11.6 3.2 172.5
Q4 3.2 50.8 64.2 12.2 27.6 9.9 3.1 171.0
2015 Q1 6.5 57.9 69.9 10.6 29.8 8.0 3.6 186.3
Q2 4.5 49.2 55.7 13.2 28.2 8.0 4.8 163.5
Q3 3.4 44.7 50.0 12.6 29.2 8.1 3.8 151.8
Q4 4.5 45.4 50.4 12.6 22.8 5.6 5.0 146.1
2016 Q1 3.8 45.3 51.8 13.8 21.3 5.9 5.2 147.0
Q2 3.6 44.8 43.2 11.0 20.9 … 5.3 131.4
Q3 3.1 39.3 38.0 10.6 19.5 3.6 7.5 121.6
Q4 3.3 34.9 36.5 10.0 18.1 2.7 4.5 109.9
2017 Q1 2.9 36.3 36.1 10.9 14.1 3.9 4.6 108.9
Q2 … 32.9 32.4 11.6 12.1 4.2 4.3 100.1
Q3 2.9 29.1 32.3 9.3 11.0 3.8 … 90.9
Q4 3.1 27.1 28.4 7.3 9.9 4.8 … 83.0
2018 Q1 … 29.1 28.4 8.9 13.3 4.7 … 87.6
Q2 … 33.1 28.6 7.7 11.4 3.5 … 87.7
Q3 … 24.5 26.9 8.6 14.8 5.8 … 84.7
Q4 … 29.5 30.8 7.3 13.2 4.9 2.7 90.5
2019 Q1 2.7 30.5 31.3 8.9 8.1 4.6 3.5 89.6
Q2 … 25.7 32.4 10.7 9.6 3.7 4.0 88.0
Q3 … 27.0 26.1 8.6 11.7 4.9 4.9 84.9
Q4 … 23.6 22.6 9.5 14.8 3.5 4.2 79.9
2020 Q1 … 29.7 30.6 8.2 13.0 3.6 5.0 92.4
Q2 … 26.6 41.5 11.2 20.8 6.2 4.7 113.0
Q3 3.6 29.1 37.0 9.7 22.4 3.1 5.9 110.9
Q4 3.2 28.5 35.4 8.3 17.9 3.9 5.8 102.8
2021 Q1 … 28.4 34.3 11.9 17.3 5.9 6.8 106.4
Q2 3.0 28.1 31.0 15.0 15.0 5.7 5.9 103.6
Q3 … 30.8 31.0 10.3 15.2 6.1 3.4 98.2
Q4 … 28.6 25.5 10.3 14.1 5.4 3.8 89.7
2022 Q1 … 31.3 29.3 8.5 16.5 6.3 4.3 97.7
Q2 … 28.7 27.4 6.8 14.0 5.0 3.0 86.0
Q3 … 27.5 30.8 10.2 16.1 5.1 4.3 96.0
Q4 … 37.9 33.0 6.8 15.5 3.3 4.7 101.9
2023 Q1 … 35.7 36.4 5.4 17.5 4.1 4.5 104.5
Q2 … 35.0 33.1 8.3 15.9 6.1 3.8 104.0
Q3 … 31.3 32.3 9.1 17.6 4.4 6.7 103.2
Q4 … 32.6 37.3 8.9 19.7 7.8 5.0 112.5
2024 Q1 2.6 39.6 36.9 11.2 20.0 7.7 7.6 125.5
Q2 … 35.8 34.4 11.5 18.4 4.3 7.6 114.1
Q3 … 30.1 37.8 12.1 24.0 4.9 10.4 121.1
Q4 2.7 32.8 35.1 10.8 18.2 5.5 8.6 113.8
2025 Q1 3.1 36.1 33.1 7.1 23.2 6.0 7.6 116.2
Q2
Q3
Q4
female
2009 Q1 3.7 54.2 47.9 19.2 36.2 15.1 … 178.2
Q2 3.9 53.0 47.4 17.8 36.6 14.6 3.0 176.4
Q3 2.8 56.1 50.5 20.7 38.2 19.0 5.1 192.3
Q4 4.0 58.8 50.4 22.1 36.5 19.6 4.1 195.6
2010 Q1 5.0 60.2 55.3 24.8 45.3 15.6 4.6 210.9
Q2 5.3 58.6 48.5 23.6 47.3 14.9 5.5 203.6
Q3 5.9 55.1 49.1 25.5 47.4 18.3 7.7 209.0
Q4 6.7 56.0 49.5 26.5 44.5 16.2 6.5 205.9
2011 Q1 6.7 63.4 51.3 27.7 45.0 17.3 5.9 217.2
Q2 6.4 60.1 50.8 26.8 47.8 16.2 5.1 213.2
Q3 5.1 58.5 52.0 27.0 45.1 19.7 5.5 213.0
Q4 5.3 59.0 52.6 24.8 44.9 19.9 5.9 212.4
2012 Q1 5.6 62.6 54.5 25.8 51.1 18.8 7.0 225.5
Q2 4.4 58.4 48.9 23.6 44.6 18.0 7.8 205.7
Q3 3.4 57.1 45.8 26.3 42.9 19.9 7.8 203.2
Q4 4.3 55.7 51.6 27.2 40.6 21.3 7.8 208.4
2013 Q1 4.6 56.1 54.4 27.8 43.9 18.6 6.9 212.3
Q2 4.0 55.1 51.2 25.1 42.0 20.4 6.2 204.1
Q3 3.4 53.0 51.0 24.1 43.4 19.6 5.8 200.3
Q4 3.2 50.3 48.2 21.5 41.5 18.2 4.3 187.2
2014 Q1 4.0 44.4 38.2 25.8 36.3 17.3 5.0 171.1
Q2 4.8 48.5 42.6 21.6 31.3 13.6 5.0 167.3
Q3 4.4 43.6 34.9 22.4 33.1 13.8 6.8 158.9
Q4 2.7 44.4 33.6 17.5 27.8 14.4 6.8 147.3
2015 Q1 3.7 47.5 39.7 22.3 30.7 13.1 4.1 161.0
Q2 4.8 47.7 32.7 20.9 25.7 10.2 4.8 146.8
Q3 2.8 43.5 34.9 19.6 21.0 12.1 6.8 140.7
Q4 2.5 43.1 32.9 18.7 22.9 10.0 4.3 134.4
2016 Q1 2.8 36.1 33.8 20.4 18.5 10.2 3.8 125.6
Q2 … 30.3 26.6 17.1 16.7 7.4 … 102.6
Q3 … 31.8 25.8 15.3 17.7 8.3 3.6 104.6
Q4 2.7 30.9 20.6 14.5 15.6 7.5 3.2 95.0
2017 Q1 3.6 30.2 20.6 12.3 16.7 10.4 3.9 97.8
Q2 4.6 30.8 21.7 14.6 15.3 7.2 … 96.2
Q3 3.7 26.0 21.3 19.4 16.5 8.4 … 97.3
Q4 3.4 24.5 21.3 17.1 15.1 7.6 3.1 92.2
2018 Q1 4.8 25.8 18.4 15.4 12.8 4.7 5.1 87.0
Q2 2.5 23.1 14.4 12.3 13.4 4.1 4.8 74.6
Q3 … 23.2 18.7 14.4 16.1 7.6 7.8 90.3
Q4 2.8 22.2 15.4 10.5 14.2 4.8 5.4 75.3
2019 Q1 3.7 21.2 13.9 11.5 13.7 4.6 5.7 74.2
Q2 2.8 23.5 14.9 6.1 11.1 4.0 5.0 67.4
Q3 … 21.8 15.0 11.1 13.2 8.0 5.9 77.2
Q4 … 21.3 14.6 11.3 12.2 3.9 4.9 70.4
2020 Q1 2.7 21.5 16.6 13.2 13.8 8.0 3.6 79.3
Q2 … 25.4 18.6 21.5 19.3 9.2 4.6 99.5
Q3 … 23.9 20.0 18.5 17.8 8.4 5.4 95.7
Q4 … 24.4 18.3 14.2 14.3 11.5 7.1 91.2
2021 Q1 … 26.5 22.2 21.8 16.7 9.8 7.7 106.7
Q2 … 24.9 19.4 16.5 15.1 6.9 7.1 91.5
Q3 … 22.1 17.9 19.1 14.2 6.9 7.3 89.3
Q4 … 24.5 18.9 14.7 12.5 6.6 9.6 88.5
2022 Q1 … 23.5 16.8 11.7 13.9 6.8 6.5 80.9
Q2 … 21.9 15.1 8.6 12.4 4.3 4.3 68.0
Q3 … 23.4 14.3 11.5 12.0 8.6 7.2 79.3
Q4 … 26.9 14.8 14.6 14.3 9.8 3.6 86.4
2023 Q1 … 30.2 19.0 11.0 16.1 10.3 3.4 92.5
Q2 2.6 29.7 14.3 15.8 13.6 8.7 3.0 87.7
Q3 … 26.3 17.8 14.3 19.7 11.2 4.1 95.1
Q4 … 32.7 18.5 17.0 20.1 10.1 5.2 105.3
2024 Q1 3.1 30.5 21.2 15.8 16.5 9.5 4.8 101.3
Q2 3.5 31.0 20.8 14.7 17.1 6.3 6.5 99.8
Q3 … 25.6 19.3 15.3 23.6 10.8 6.6 103.5
Q4 … 27.9 21.4 15.3 21.2 9.5 5.0 102.5
2025 Q1 … 29.3 23.2 11.0 20.3 7.2 4.0 96.5
Q2
Q3
Q4

Footnotes

*From 25 October 2024 onwards, the Labour Force Survey estimates are produced using population projections based on the 2022 Census. The data has been extrapolated back to 2018 using the new base. From January 2025, qualifications recognised by the national education authorities will also be taken into account when determining the highest educational attainment level. Data of labour force survey refer to the population aged 15–74. Source: labour force survey, HCSO.
aIncluding doctoral or equivalent.

Explanation of symbols

...
Confidential datum under disclosure protection.
__, |
Break in series (limited comparability).
.