The proportion of those aged 30 to 34 who had completed tertiary education last year increased compared with 2002 in all EU states, more than doubling in Malta. The amount was, however, still among the lowest in EU states.

According to a Eurostat survey, the proportion more than doubled in 10 member states: Poland (from 14.4 per cent in 2002 to 40.5 per cent in 2013), Malta (from 9.3 per cent to 26 per cent), Slovakia (from 10.5 per cent to 26.9 per cent), Romania (from 9.1 per cent to 22.8 per cent), Latvia (from 17.3 per cent to 40.7 per cent), Portugal (from 13 per cent to 29.2 per cent), Luxembourg (from 23.6 per cent to 52.5 per cent), Hungary (from 14.4 per cent to 31.9 per cent), Lithuania (from 23.4 per cent to 51.3 per cent) and the Czech Republic (from 12.6 per cent to 26.7 per cent).

In 2013, the highest proportions of those aged 30 to 34 having completed tertiary education were observed in Ireland (52.6 per cent), Luxembourg (52.5 per cent), Lithuania (51.3 per cent), Sweden (48.3 per cent), Cyprus (47.8 per cent) and the United Kingdom (47.6 per cent), and the lowest in Italy (22.4 per cent), Romania (22.8 per cent), Croatia (25.9 per cent) and Malta (26 per cent).

Eleven member states had already met or exceeded their 2020 national targets for this indicator (Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Finland and Sweden).

Meanwhile, according to the National Statistics Office, the total number of graduates at all levels in 2012 stood at 11,399, up by 3.7 per cent over the previous year.

Graduates at tertiary level increased by 11.2 per cent.

During 2012, female graduates surpassed males and accounted for 53.4 per cent of the total. A similar distribution was noted during 2011. The majority of graduates were enrolled on a full-time basis. Part-time graduates in 2012
made up 9.9 per cent of the total.

While the majority of graduates were enrolled in academic programmes, 24.1 per
cent attained their qualification via vocational or pre-vocational programmes, the latter representing courses which are mostly followed on apprenticeship.