Walloon Brabant has the highest rate of university degrees in Europe, after London

31/08/2016

Eurostat has published a comprehensive report on the level of education by region in Europe. The results of this study illustrate that the province of Walloon Brabant ranks fourth in rate of university degrees, behind three London districts.

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union established in Luxemburg, has published its report 2015 on the most highly educated regions of Europe. Eurostat has analysed the percentage of the population with « tertiary education » for each region, province and town in Europe. « Tertiary education » means obtaining a higher education degree or equivalent, for all citizens between the ages of 25 and 64.  

On the European level, the United Kingdom ranks first in number of zones where the largest proportion of the population has received higher education.  Walloon Brabant is ranked in the European top and overtakes its Belgian counterparts achieving a percentage of 54.1.  The second Belgian province is Flemish Brabant  with 44.7%,  followed by Hainaut that closes the Belgian track record with 27.2%.  The Brussels Region ranks above the Belgian average. It counts  43.4%  persons with « tertiary education ».

Walloon Brabant is one of the 10 Belgian provinces and is located in the Walloon Region, in the centre of the country. The province had 393,497 inhabitants in 2015. It has an area of 1,090 km2 and its capital is Wavre with its appointed Mayor Charles Michel, Prime Minister of Belgium.  With 147,235 jobs, more than 10,000 companies, 1 scientific activities park and 7 economic activities parks, Walloon Brabant positions itself as a  major economic hub, specialised in high-tech industry, research and pharmaceutical industry. Moreover it is the second region in Europe where 22% of the active population are scientists.