The education level of the Dutch population continues to rise, according to Education at a Glance 2012, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)'s annual international comparison in the field of education.

The new report compares data on education from 2009 and 2010 from the 34 OECD member countries as well as Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

The proportion of Dutch citizens aged 25-34 with an education at the college and / or university level is now 41 percent higher than both the OECD average as well as the average of the 21 EU Member States examined in the report.

The report also shows that even a basic qualification offers more opportunities, even in economically difficult times. Among the highly educated, unemployment is lower and the chance of job retention greater than among those who are less educated.

Among those with a higher education in the Netherlands, almost 90 percent work, placing it 6th in the OECD. Although less educated people in the Netherlands are employed at lower rates than their more educated counterparts, they nevertheless are employed at higher rates in the Netherlands than in most other countries.

Another positive development is that since 2004 the employment of people with either a basic and / or higher education has increased in nearly every country included in the report. The Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden have shown the strongest increases.

In the OECD countries as a whole, educational participation among 20-29 year-olds increased significantly between 2009 and 2010 (in the Netherlands, it grew from 29 to 30 percent).

At the same time, the unemployment rate among 25-34 year-olds in the Netherlands remains at the lowest level within the OECD (e.g. 3,4 percent for young people with a basic qualification as the highest level attained), although this figure has been rising since the onset of the economic crisis in 2008.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría summed up the report's findings thusly: "As the spectre of another economic downturn is looming large in some countries and is already a reality in others, the findings from this year’s edition may be especially relevant. Investing in people, their skills and their education is key for inclusive growth and jobs - it is key for the success of economies, societies and their citizens!"