Malta is closing the gap with the EU on higher education, according to statistics published in Brussels.

The number of people graduating from the University remains lower than the EU average but Malta is close to achieving the same average results in just a few years.

The statistics show Malta still suffers from lack of opportunities in tertiary educational seen before 1987 when entry into the University was very restricted because of government policy at the time.

According to Eurostat, 22.5 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds had tertiary level education in 2007. The average in the EU 27 stood at 30 per cent. In this age group, Malta performed better than other member states including Italy, Austria, Portugal, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

But among the generation aged 35-44, the situation is very different and 11.5 per cent had a University degree. In this age group, Malta placed in the penultimate position before Romania. The average number of graduates for the EU 27 in this age group was more than twice that of Malta's and stood at 24.8 per cent in 2007.

Among the third age group - 45 to 64 years - just eight per cent of Maltese had some form of degree, in contrast with 19 per cent in the EU.

The statistics show that more Maltese students were leaving the island to study abroad. In fact, the island had the second highest number of students, after Cyprus, enrolled in courses at other EU universities.

It was estimated that in 2006, 10.6 per cent of Maltese were studying in other universities across the EU, substantially higher than the 2.6 per cent EU average.

Among Malta's youngest graduates, women were definitely ahead of the game. In the 25-34 age group, 25 per cent of women were graduates compared to 20 per cent in the case of men. This trend was similar to the prevailing situation in other member states.