Comparing the number of "graduates" is pretty much pointless. We always had a low number of graduates in Austria, partly because of the apprenticeship system, b

Comparing the number of "graduates" is pretty much pointless. We always had a low number of graduates in Austria, partly because of the apprenticeship system, but also because many schools just didn't award degrees. For example, if you become a Kindergarten teacher, or a primary school teacher, or a nurse, you just dodn't receive an academic degree. A few years ago this started to change. Most schools were formally changed to "Hochschulen" and now award degrees. On paper, this measure vastly increases the number of academics in Austria. But in practice, not much has changed. Such circumstances should be taken into account when comparing the percentage of graduates across countries. The raw numbers don't tell the whole story.