Arts and humanities account for very different shares of tertiary graduates across reporting economies. World Bank WDI series SE.TER.GRAD.HU.ZS measures the percentage of all tertiary graduates in a reference year who completed programmes classified in arts and humanities. The retained dataset contains 154 latest non-null country or area observations. Their unweighted median is 7.8% and the mean is 9.4%.
The critical limitation is timing. These latest observations run from 1999 to 2020. Only one row is dated 2020, while most of the coverage is concentrated in 2018 and 2019. The map is therefore a snapshot of the latest reported field-of-study composition available for each economy, not a synchronized 2020 ranking and not a description of the 2026 graduating class.
Table of Contents
The denominator is all tertiary graduates in the reference year
The World Bank indicator is a composition measure, not an attainment or enrollment rate. Its numerator is the number of graduates from arts and humanities programmes, and its denominator is the total number of tertiary graduates in the same reference period. A value of 12% means that roughly 12 out of every 100 tertiary graduates in that reporting year completed a programme classified in arts and humanities. It does not mean that 12% of the population holds an arts or humanities degree.
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) defines the broader field-of-education indicator as the number of tertiary graduates from a field divided by total tertiary graduates, multiplied by 100. The classification framework is designed to improve international comparability, but national programme structures and reporting practices are not perfectly identical. This makes broad differences more defensible than fine decimal-place rankings.
The latest observations are concentrated in 2015–2020, but they are not from one year
Of the 154 retained observations, 131 (85.1%) are dated from 2015 through 2020. There are 56 rows from 2018, 33 from 2019, 18 from 2017, 15 from 2016, eight from 2015, and only one from 2020. The remaining 23 rows are from 2014 or earlier, with the oldest latest observation dated 1999.
| Reference year | Countries / areas |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2019 | 33 |
| 2018 | 56 |
| 2017 | 18 |
| 2016 | 15 |
| 2015 | 8 |
| 2014 or earlier | 23 |
A mixed-vintage dataset can still show broad differences in the latest available reporting, but the year must travel with the percentage. Korea is represented by 2017, the United States by 2016, and India by 2019. Putting those values in one table is useful for orientation; calling that table a same-year league table would overstate comparability.
The country-row median is 7.8%, with most observations below 15%
Giving each reporting row equal weight, the first quartile is 4.4%, the median is 7.8%, and the third quartile is 11.0%. The simple mean is 9.4%. The mean sits above the median because a smaller group of high values stretches the upper tail.
| Latest arts & humanities graduate share | Countries / areas | Share of 154 |
|---|---|---|
| Under 5% | 43 | 27.9% |
| 5–<10% | 68 | 44.2% |
| 10–<15% | 22 | 14.3% |
| 15–<20% | 10 | 6.5% |
| 20% or more | 11 | 7.1% |
Sixty-eight observations fall between 5% and 10%, the largest band. Forty-three are below 5%, 22 are between 10% and 15%, 10 are between 15% and 20%, and 11 are at 20% or above. These are descriptive statistics for country or area rows. They are not a graduate-weighted world average: a large education system and a small reporting area each contribute one observation.
The 2015–2020 subset still shows a wide spread
Restricting attention to the 131 observations dated 2015–2020 produces a median of 8.1% and an unweighted mean of 9.2%. That is close to the distribution of the full latest-value set, suggesting that the broad spread is not driven only by the oldest rows.
| Country / area | Reference year | Arts & humanities share |
|---|---|---|
| San Marino | 2018 | 50.0% |
| Myanmar | 2018 | 45.7% |
| Marshall Islands | 2019 | 34.3% |
| Bangladesh | 2019 | 31.6% |
| Mauritania | 2017 | 25.3% |
| Sudan | 2015 | 21.8% |
| Algeria | 2018 | 20.8% |
| United States | 2016 | 19.7% |
| Armenia | 2019 | 19.3% |
| Saudi Arabia | 2019 | 19.2% |
| Bermuda | 2018 | 19.0% |
| Syrian Arab Republic | 2016 | 19.0% |
Among the 2015–2020 observations, San Marino is 50.0% in 2018 and Myanmar 45.7% in 2018. The Marshall Islands report 34.3% in 2019 and Bangladesh 31.6% in 2019. Mauritania is 25.3% in 2017, Algeria 20.8% in 2018, and Saudi Arabia 19.2% in 2019. These percentages measure composition, not the absolute number of graduates. A small tertiary system can have a high share without producing a large number of graduates.
A high share is also not a quality score. The series contains no information about learning outcomes, institutional quality, graduate employment, wages, research output, or the size of the creative industries. It tells us how tertiary graduates were distributed by field in the reported year.
Korea’s retained observation is 16.0% in 2017
| Country | Latest reference year | Arts & humanities share |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 2016 | 19.7% |
| Italy | 2018 | 16.8% |
| Korea, Republic of | 2017 | 16.0% |
| United Kingdom | 2016 | 15.4% |
| Australia | 2018 | 12.1% |
| Germany | 2018 | 11.4% |
| Türkiye | 2018 | 11.1% |
| Canada | 2018 | 9.5% |
| Spain | 2018 | 8.9% |
| France | 2018 | 8.6% |
| India | 2019 | 5.9% |
| Indonesia | 2018 | 5.2% |
| Russian Federation | 2018 | 4.4% |
| Mexico | 2017 | 3.4% |
| Brazil | 2018 | 3.1% |
Korea is 16.0% in 2017. The United States is 19.7% in 2016, Italy 16.8% in 2018, the United Kingdom 15.4% in 2016, Australia 12.1% in 2018, and Germany 11.4% in 2018. India is 5.9% in 2019, Indonesia 5.2% in 2018, the Russian Federation 4.4% in 2018, and Brazil 3.1% in 2018.
China and Japan do not have a retained non-null row in this 154-observation extract, so no substitute value from another source or another indicator has been inserted. The mixed reference years also mean that a small percentage-point difference between two countries should not be presented as a precise current ranking.
The map describes field composition, not why students choose a field
UIS notes that the relative concentration of graduates in a field can be read alongside student preferences, programme capacity and related labour-market opportunities. Those mechanisms, however, are not directly measured by this series. Admissions systems, programme supply, cultural preferences, professional licensing, tuition structures, migration and labour demand can all matter, and the single percentage does not isolate any one cause.
Cross-country comparability also depends on consistent field classification. UIS cautions that exclusions, double counting, reporting coverage, and differences in programme duration or content can affect detailed comparisons. For that reason, the map is most useful for identifying broad differences and countries worth examining further, rather than proving that one national education system values the humanities more than another for a specific causal reason.
Comparisons with other fields need matched reference years and the same denominator
World Bank and UIS also publish graduate shares for education, health and welfare, engineering, natural sciences, social sciences and other fields. In a complete field classification for one country and one academic year, field shares are components of the same total. But independently extracted “latest” values can come from different years. Adding the latest arts value from one year to the latest engineering value from another year would create a synthetic mix that never existed as a real graduating cohort.
The same warning applies when comparing this series with adult educational attainment. An arts-and-humanities graduate share uses total tertiary graduates as its denominator, while a bachelor’s-or-higher attainment rate uses the population age 25+ as its denominator. Both are percentages about education, but they answer different questions and should not be subtracted or divided as if they were interchangeable.
Data source and calculation method
Country values come from World Bank WDI SE.TER.GRAD.HU.ZS, using the latest non-null observation retained for each reporting country or area. The field-of-study concept and calculation are documented by UNESCO UIS and its education glossary. The unit is percent of all tertiary graduates in the reference year.
All summary statistics in this article are calculated from the 154 retained rows. Missing values are not converted to zero, and older observations are not relabeled as 2020. The mean and median are unweighted across reporting rows, not weighted by the number of graduates. Because reference years differ, tables keep the year beside the percentage whenever possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a 10% arts and humanities share of tertiary graduates mean?
It means that about 10 out of every 100 tertiary graduates in that reference year completed programmes classified in arts and humanities. It is not the share of the total population with an arts or humanities degree.
Is this a 2020 country ranking?
No. The dataset retains each country or area’s latest non-null observation, and the reference years range from 1999 to 2020. Only one retained observation is dated 2020.
What is Korea’s latest value in this dataset?
The Republic of Korea is 15.97% in 2017. Comparisons with other countries should keep their different reference years in view.
Does a higher arts and humanities share mean a better education system?
No. This indicator measures the composition of tertiary graduates by field. It does not measure education quality, learning outcomes, employment, wages, or research performance.
Related Articles
The field-of-study share measures the composition of graduating cohorts in the reported year. The articles below use a different denominator—adult population age 25+—and are useful for separating graduate composition from accumulated educational attainment.
- Bachelor’s-or-Higher Attainment Map: Latest Values for Adults 25+
- Global Short-Cycle Tertiary Attainment Map | Adults 25+ by Country
- Master’s-or-Higher Attainment for Adults 25+ | 2020–2024 Map
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