The share of tertiary graduates completing health and welfare programmes provides one view of how a country’s annual graduate cohort is distributed across fields of study. World Bank series SE.TER.GRAD.HL.ZS reports health and welfare graduates as a percentage of all tertiary graduates. It is a field-composition indicator. It does not directly count doctors, nurses, social-service workers, or the total health workforce, and it should not be treated as a score for the quality of a health system.
The latest non-null observations cover 153 countries and separately reported areas, but their reference years range from 1999 to 2020. To reduce the distortion created by mixing very old and more recent values, the main map and ranking use the 90 observations dated 2018–2020. Their unweighted median is 11.66% and their simple mean is 12.58%. Korea’s available value is 15.49% in 2017 and the United States is 17.01% in 2016, so neither is placed in the recent 90-country ranking.
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The indicator measures the field composition of graduates, not the health workforce
UNESCO Institute for Statistics defines the percentage of tertiary graduates by field as the number of graduates in a given field divided by the total number of tertiary graduates, multiplied by 100. A health-and-welfare value of 20% therefore means roughly one in five tertiary graduates in that observation was classified in health and welfare programmes. It does not mean 20% of the population studied health and welfare, and it does not mean 20% of employed workers are in health or social services.
Health and welfare is an internationally harmonised field-of-study category rather than a single academic major. National programme names, professional qualifications and degree structures differ. The international classification makes broad comparisons possible, but it does not make every national programme identical. Small differences between countries should therefore not be interpreted as if they reflected exactly the same mix of degrees and qualifications.
The median across 90 observations from 2018–2020 is 11.66%
Giving every country or area one equal observation, the recent-group median is 11.66% and the simple mean is 12.58%. The first quartile is about 7.05% and the third quartile about 16.27%, so the middle half of the recent observations lies within a fairly wide band. These are descriptive country-row statistics, not a graduate-count-weighted global percentage. A small economy and a large country each contribute one row.
| Health & welfare share, 2018–2020 | Countries / areas | Share of 90 |
|---|---|---|
| Below 5% | 13 | 14.4% |
| 5% to <10% | 26 | 28.9% |
| 10% to <15% | 23 | 25.6% |
| 15% to <20% | 16 | 17.8% |
| 20% to <30% | 9 | 10.0% |
| 30% or more | 3 | 3.3% |
Thirteen observations are below 5%, 26 are between 5% and below 10%, and 23 are between 10% and below 15%. Sixteen fall between 15% and below 20%, nine are between 20% and below 30%, and three are at 30% or above. The distribution therefore stretches from roughly 2% to almost 49%. A single average cannot describe that spread particularly well, so the ranges, outliers and reference years matter.
Grenada, Puerto Rico and Andorra are at the top of the recent group
| Country / area | Observation year | Health & welfare share of tertiary graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Grenada | 2018 | 48.64% |
| Puerto Rico (US) | 2018 | 37.09% |
| Andorra | 2019 | 33.33% |
| Belgium | 2018 | 28.79% |
| Burundi | 2018 | 26.84% |
| Sweden | 2018 | 23.22% |
| Chile | 2018 | 22.40% |
| Tanzania | 2019 | 22.13% |
| Finland | 2018 | 21.93% |
| Seychelles | 2019 | 21.71% |
| Cabo Verde | 2018 | 20.92% |
| Denmark | 2018 | 20.88% |
| Kyrgyz Republic | 2019 | 19.01% |
| Lithuania | 2018 | 18.05% |
| Niger | 2019 | 17.93% |
Grenada records 48.64% in 2018, Puerto Rico 37.09%, and Andorra 33.33% in 2019. Belgium is 28.79%, Burundi 26.84%, Sweden 23.22%, Chile 22.40%, Tanzania 22.13%, and Finland 21.93%. These large shares show that health and welfare occupies a substantial part of the graduate field mix in those observations. They do not tell us how many graduates there were in absolute terms.
That distinction is particularly important for smaller countries and areas. When the total number of tertiary graduates is relatively small, changes in one field can move the percentage considerably. The underlying data used here report percentages rather than graduate counts, so it would be inappropriate to attribute a high share to a specific change in cohort size without additional official evidence.
A low share does not mean that health education is absent
| Country / area | Observation year | Health & welfare share of tertiary graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Bangladesh | 2019 | 1.97% |
| Myanmar | 2018 | 2.27% |
| Benin | 2018 | 2.97% |
| Brunei Darussalam | 2019 | 2.98% |
| Morocco | 2019 | 3.25% |
| Algeria | 2018 | 3.63% |
| Montenegro | 2019 | 3.66% |
| Liechtenstein | 2018 | 3.68% |
| India | 2019 | 3.97% |
| Cambodia | 2019 | 4.18% |
Bangladesh is 1.97% in 2019, Myanmar 2.27% in 2018, Benin 2.97%, Brunei Darussalam 2.98% in 2019, and Morocco 3.25%. India is 3.97% in 2019. These are low relative shares of the graduate cohort. They do not establish that the absolute number of health and welfare graduates is small, because countries differ greatly in population and in the total size of tertiary education.
The denominator matters as much as the numerator. If graduates in engineering, business, education or other fields expand rapidly, the health-and-welfare percentage can fall even when the number of health-and-welfare graduates is stable or rising. The reverse can also occur. For that reason, the percentage should not be used by itself to infer demand for a field, the success of a workforce policy, or the adequacy of professional training capacity.
European values vary widely, and other regions do not follow a single pattern
| Country | Observation year | Health & welfare share |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 2018 | 28.79% |
| Sweden | 2018 | 23.22% |
| Finland | 2018 | 21.93% |
| Australia | 2018 | 17.47% |
| Spain | 2018 | 16.80% |
| Brazil | 2018 | 16.32% |
| France | 2018 | 14.53% |
| Canada | 2018 | 14.47% |
| Germany | 2018 | 7.43% |
| India | 2019 | 3.97% |
| Bangladesh | 2019 | 1.97% |
| Tanzania | 2019 | 22.13% |
Belgium, Sweden and Finland are high within the recent set, at 28.79%, 23.22% and 21.93% respectively. Germany is much lower at 7.43%, while France is 14.53% and Spain 16.80%. The spread within Europe is large enough to caution against treating a continent as one educational model. Programme capacity, student preferences, labour-market structures and reporting practices may all be relevant, but the indicator itself does not identify which mechanism explains the difference.
India is 3.97% and Bangladesh 1.97% in recent observations, while other countries in Asia and neighbouring regions have higher values. Korea’s available value is 15.49% in 2017, which falls outside the 2018–2020 comparison window. The United States is 17.01% in 2016. Both figures can be informative as country reference points, but comparing them directly with 2019 observations to two decimal places would mix time differences with field-composition differences.
Why the main comparison uses 90 observations instead of all 153 latest values
The 153 latest non-null country and area observations span 1999–2020. The most common reference year is 2018 with 56 rows, followed by 2019 with 33. There are 18 observations from 2017 and 15 from 2016, while several are much older. Combining all of them into a single current league table would make a country observed two decades earlier look directly comparable with one observed near 2020.
Restricting the main map to 2018–2020 reduces coverage to 90 observations but substantially improves recency. Even this is not a perfectly same-year comparison: most rows are 2018 or 2019, and only one is 2020. The recent window is therefore best used to identify broad differences in field composition, not to claim that a one-percentage-point gap is a precise contemporaneous ranking.
Korea at 15.49% and the United States at 17.01% are reference values, not recent-rank positions
Korea’s latest available observation is 15.49% in 2017. The United States is 17.01% in 2016. Both sit above the 11.66% median of the 2018–2020 group, but their different reference years prevent a clean rank comparison. Japan and China do not have observations in the 2018–2020 subset used for the main map, so they are not assigned artificial positions.
Reference years matter because the mix of graduates can change as enrolment capacity, student choices, professional programmes and statistical classifications evolve. A difference between a 2016 value and a 2019 value may reflect time as well as country structure. For country-to-country analysis, the safest approach is to confirm that comparable years and classification practices are available before interpreting small gaps.
What this percentage can and cannot tell us
The indicator can show whether health and welfare is a relatively large or small field within a tertiary graduating cohort. It can identify countries with unusually high recent shares and show how wide the cross-country distribution is. Used alongside other field-of-study indicators, it can help describe how tertiary education output is distributed across broad specialisations.
It cannot, by itself, measure access to healthcare, health-system quality, doctor or nurse shortages, social-protection coverage, employment rates, wages, or whether the graduate supply matches labour-market demand. Graduates may enter different occupations, migrate, obtain professional licences later, or leave the workforce. Connecting education output to workforce adequacy requires separate labour-market and population evidence.
Source and comparison method
The statistical series is World Bank SE.TER.GRAD.HL.ZS. UNESCO UIS defines tertiary graduate field shares as graduates in a specific field divided by total tertiary graduates and multiplied by 100. International comparisons use common education and field classifications, but differences in national systems, exclusions, double counting or classification practices can still affect comparability.
The main map, distribution and ranking use the 90 observations dated 2018–2020. The median and mean give each country or area equal weight and are not weighted by its number of graduates. Missing values are not converted to zero. Observations dated 2017 or earlier remain useful as country reference values but are excluded from the recent ranking.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the health and welfare share of tertiary graduates mean?
It is the percentage of all tertiary graduates classified as graduating from health and welfare programmes. It is not the share of the population or workforce employed in health and welfare.
Why does the main comparison use 90 observations from 2018–2020?
The 153 latest country and area observations span 1999–2020. Restricting the main comparison to observations dated 2018–2020 reduces the risk of treating much older values as directly current.
What is Korea’s available health and welfare graduate share?
Korea's available World Bank observation is 15.49% in 2017. It is shown as a reference value rather than placed in the 2018–2020 ranking.
Does a high graduate share mean a country has enough health workers?
No. The indicator describes the field composition of graduates. Workforce adequacy requires separate evidence on employment, professional licensing, migration, population and health-service staffing.
Related Articles
These Green Map articles provide related context on tertiary graduate classification and educational attainment.
- Tertiary Graduates in Unspecified Fields – 2018–2020
- Global Short-Cycle Tertiary Attainment – Adults 25+
- Post-Secondary Attainment for Adults 25+ – 2020–2024
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