Even thought the number of higher education students is decreasing significantly, the reason for fewer students is not a lack of interest in higher education, the Statistics Office noted.

The share of students among 19 to 24-year-olds has not changed significantly in the last five years, remaining at around 50%.

The number of graduates in higher vocational education decreased from 4,832 in 2011 to 3,712 last year, while the number of university graduates increased in the same period. Among them, 40% graduated in the field of social sciences, economy and law.

In regards to gender, almost two thirds of all graduates at higher vocational education, university programmes and post-graduate MA programmes were women. Among PhD students, there is an approximately equal number of men and women, even though a few years back there were more men.