14% of young people in the EU dropped out of education

Data collected in 2024 show that 14.2% of people aged 15-34 in the EU left formal education or training at least once during their lifetime.

The highest dropout rates were registered in the Netherlands (32.2%), Denmark (27.1%), Luxembourg (24.8%) and Estonia (24.4%). On the other hand, the lowest were recorded in Romania (1.5%), Greece (2.2%) and Bulgaria (3.5%).  

Source dataset: lfso_24eab01

In all levels of education (low, medium and high), the most common reason for not completing an education programme was that it did not meet expectations or was too difficult (42.6% of people who have left formal education). This was followed by other family or personal reasons (18.5%) and preference for work (13.8%). Only 5.3% of people mentioned financial reasons as the main reason for leaving formal education programme or training. 

Reasons related to the education programme itself varied across education levels: they accounted for 28.7% at the low education level, 35.9% at the medium level and a significant 50.2% at the high level. 

However, reasons related to an own illness or disability were more common at the lower education level (11.1%) than at the medium (9.8%) or high level (5.6%).

Similarly, other family or personal reasons were also more prominent at the lower educational level (24.6%) and became less significant as education levels increased: 21.8% for medium level and 15.0% for high level. This was the same for those who preferred to work: 17.7% at low level, 15.7% at medium level and 11.9% at high level. 

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Dropping out of a programme for financial reasons was more common at the high level of education (5.7%) than at the medium level (4.8%).

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Source dataset: lfso_24eab03

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Methodological notes

• The level of the formal education or training activity is defined according to the International Standard Classification of Education 2011 (ISCED 2011). This article looks at the 3 broader groups of education levels:
  • low education level: primary and lower secondary education (ISCED levels 1-2)
  • medium education level: upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED levels 3 and 4)
  • high education level: tertiary education (ISCED levels 5-8)
• Data in this article is part of the EU labour force survey 2024, which included the 8-yearly module on young people in the labour market. The next time the same 8-yearly module survey will be carried out will be in 2032.
• Participants were asked whether they had ever dropped out of formal education or training in their lifetime, level of education at which they dropped out and the main reason.

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