What Share of Israelis Have a College Degree? 32.3% of Those Aged 25 to 69
32.3% of Israelis aged 25 to 69 held an academic degree in 2020, on the Central Bureau of Statistics’ Education Register count.
About a third of Israelis aged 25 to 69, 32.3%, held an academic degree in 2020, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported in its 2023 report on gaps between Jews and Arabs. The Bureau counts a bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate as an academic degree, drawing on its Education Register, which covers about 96% of the population in that age band. The share was 36.3% among Jews and others and 16.2% among Arabs.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 32.3% | Israelis aged 25 to 69 holding an academic degree (bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate) | 2020 |
| 40.9% | Highest certificate is matriculation or high-school completion | 2020 |
| 7.3% | Highest certificate is non-academic post-secondary, outside the degree count | 2020 |
| 19.5% | Less than high-school completion, or no information on education | 2020 |
| 36.3% | Jews and others aged 25 to 69 holding an academic degree | 2020 |
| 16.2% | Arabs aged 25 to 69 holding an academic degree | 2020 |
Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Society in Israel Report No. 14: Gaps Between Jews and Arabs, chapter 5, 2023. All shares are of the population aged 25 to 69.
32.3% of Israelis aged 25 to 69 held an academic degree
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded 32.3% of Israelis aged 25 to 69 as holding an academic degree in 2020. The figure is a share of the 25 to 69 age band, not of all adults and not of everyone over 25. The data year is 2020, although the report appeared in 2023.
The Bureau sorts each person by the highest certificate held, so the four categories are exclusive and together make up the whole 25 to 69 population.
The Central Bureau of Statistics reports that the share holding a degree rose between 2008 and 2020 for both Jews and others and Arabs, while the share with less than high-school completion fell.
36.3% of Jews and others against 16.2% of Arabs
The Central Bureau of Statistics found that 36.3% of Jews and others aged 25 to 69 held an academic degree in 2020, against 16.2% of Arabs. At the other end of the scale, 41.2% of Arabs had less than high-school completion or no information on their education, against 14.1% of Jews and others.
| Measure, ages 25 to 69 | Jews and others | Arabs |
|---|---|---|
| Holding an academic degree | 36.3% | 16.2% |
| Less than high-school completion or no information | 14.1% | 41.2% |
| Highest district degree share | Tel Aviv, 40.1% | Haifa, 18.4% |
| Second-highest district degree share | Centre, 39.9% | North, 18.1% |
Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Society in Israel Report No. 14, chapter 5, 2023. Data for 2020.
The group names are the Bureau’s own. “Jews and others” is the Bureau’s label for the group whose figure is 36.3%, and the district rankings compare districts within each group, not across them.
Women hold degrees more often, 41.3% against 31.0% among Jews and others
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded a higher degree share among women than among men in both population groups in 2020. Among Jews and others aged 25 to 69, 41.3% of women and 31.0% of men held an academic degree. Among Arabs, the figures were 18.9% of women and 13.4% of men.
Each bar is a share of its own sex within its own group, so the four bars do not sum to anything and do not average to the national 32.3%.
The Bureau counts 7.3% separately with non-academic post-secondary certificates
The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 7.3% of Israelis aged 25 to 69 as holding a non-academic post-secondary certificate in 2020, as a category of its own outside the 32.3% holding an academic degree. The two are separate rows in the Bureau’s breakdown, and a person appears in only one of them.
Broader measures of tertiary education, which add non-academic post-secondary and short-cycle qualifications and often use an age band of 25 to 64, count a different population on a different definition. They produce a different share from the Bureau’s academic-degree count, and the two are not one series.
- Academic degree, as the Bureau defines it: bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate, 32.3%.
- Non-academic post-secondary certificate: 7.3%, reported separately.
- The 7.3% is not part of the degree share, and adding it to the 32.3% does not produce a degree figure.
No Bureau figure here updates the degree share after 2020
The Central Bureau of Statistics published 2020 as the latest year of attainment data in its 2023 report, and the other releases drawn on here carry no later share of adults holding a degree. They do carry figures on study, which count something else.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 314,500 | Students in the higher education system, an enrolment count | 2017/18 |
| 55.1% | Arab Christians continuing toward a first degree within eight years of high school | Within eight years of graduation |
| 48.1% | Graduates of Hebrew education continuing toward a first degree within eight years | Within eight years of graduation |
| 34.6% | All graduates of the Arab school system continuing toward a first degree within eight years | Within eight years of graduation |
Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Statistilite 169 (2019), for the enrolment figure; Central Bureau of Statistics, Christmas 2023 release, for the continuation rates.
The 314,500 is a count of people studying in one academic year. The continuation rates are shares of high-school graduates who went on to degree study. Neither is a share of adults who hold a degree.
Which figures may not be added together?
The 7.3% holding non-academic post-secondary certificates may not be added to the 32.3% and presented as a degree share. Every attainment figure on this page is the Central Bureau of Statistics’ Education Register count for ages 25 to 69 in 2020, and none may be restated for all adults or for ages 25 to 64. The enrolment count and the continuation rates measure study, not attainment, and do not combine with the degree share. The sex and district shares are shares within a group and do not average to the national figure.
Questions readers ask
What does the Bureau count as an academic degree?
The Central Bureau of Statistics counts a bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate as an academic degree. Non-academic post-secondary certificates are counted in a separate category.
Which age group does the 32.3% cover?
The Central Bureau of Statistics reports the 32.3% as a share of Israelis aged 25 to 69. It is not a share of all adults or of everyone over 25.
What year are the degree figures for?
The Central Bureau of Statistics published the figures in 2023, and they describe 2020.
Where do the figures come from?
The Central Bureau of Statistics states that the figures come from its Education Register, which covers about 96% of the population aged 25 to 69.
Has the share of Israelis with a degree been rising?
The Central Bureau of Statistics reports that the degree share rose between 2008 and 2020 for both Jews and others and Arabs, while the share with less than high-school completion fell.
Which district has the most degree holders among Jews and others?
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded Tel Aviv as the highest, at 40.1% of Jews and others aged 25 to 69 in 2020, followed by the Centre at 39.9%.
Which district has the most degree holders among Arabs?
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded Haifa as the highest, at 18.4% of Arabs aged 25 to 69 in 2020, followed by the North at 18.1%.
Are Arab women more likely than Arab men to hold a degree?
The Central Bureau of Statistics found that 18.9% of Arab women aged 25 to 69 held a degree in 2020, against 13.4% of Arab men.
How many Israelis aged 25 to 69 did not complete high school?
The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 19.5% of Israelis aged 25 to 69 with less than high-school completion or no information on education in 2020.
What share stopped at matriculation or high-school completion?
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded 40.9% of Israelis aged 25 to 69 whose highest certificate in 2020 was matriculation or high-school completion.
How many students were in Israel’s higher education system?
The Central Bureau of Statistics reported 314,500 students in the higher education system in 2017/18. That is an enrolment count, not a degree share.
How many Arab Christians go on to degree study?
The Central Bureau of Statistics reported that 55.1% of Arab Christians continued toward a first degree within eight years of graduating high school, against 48.1% in Hebrew education.
Sources
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2019. Statistilite 169: Education in Israel. Selected-data booklet, English. cbs.gov.il. Official or primary record.
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2023. Christmas 2023: Christians in Israel. Media release 411/2023. https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/DocLib/2023/411/11_23_411e.pdf. Official or primary record.
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2023. Society in Israel Report No. 14: Gaps Between Jews and Arabs, chapter 5, Education; with media release 192/2023, Gaps Between Jews and Arabs, 2020-2021, 19 June 2023. https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/DocLib/2023/192/33_23_192b.pdf. Official or primary record, Hebrew.
