Ministry of Education, Culture and Science
Well-being Fact Sheet for the annual report of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science 2026
Education, Culture and Science
The fact sheet contains indicators that correspond to the policy themes of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. It combines indicators from the Monitor of Inclusive and Sustainable Well-being and the Sustainable Development Goals 2026 with additional indicators that have been specifically developed for the fact sheets. Together, these provide a detailed insight into wellbeing for policy purposes.
The fact sheet establishes a link with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and refers to the SDG monitoring conducted by Statistics Netherlands (CBS).
Primary education
Here and now
Secondary education
Here and now
20th
out of 26
in EU
in 2022
in EU
in 2022
Pupil reading skills B)
Later
Vocational education and adult education
Here and now
84.2%
of the BBL and full-time BOL students find work immediately after leaving education in 2023
Labour market position of students leaving MBO D)
1st
out of 27
in EU
in 2025
in EU
in 2025
Digital skills
1st
out of 27
in EU
in 2024
in EU
in 2024
Young people neither in employment nor in education and training
Later
22nd
out of 27
in EU
in 2024
in EU
in 2024
Level of education achieved: primary education, VMBO, MBO-1
4th
out of 27
in EU
in 2024
in EU
in 2024
Lifelong learning
Higher education
Later
Labour market and HR policy
Here and now
16th
out of 27
in EU
in 2024
in EU
in 2024
Hours worked in education
21st
out of 26
in EU
in 2024
in EU
in 2024
Job vacancy rate in education
Culture
Here and now
Media
Here and now
Research and science policy
Here and now
Technologically innovative enterprises
Emancipation
Here and now
21st
out of 27
in EU
in 2024
in EU
in 2024
Women in management
5th
out of 27
in EU
in 2025
in EU
in 2025
Women in parliament
10th
out of 21
in EU
in 2024
in EU
in 2024
Gender pay gap A)
Economically independent men
Economically independent women
Physical and/or sexual abuse by (ex-)partner
Young men experiencing sexual violence B)
Later
18th
out of 19
in EU
in 2023
in EU
in 2023
Feelings of discrimination
2nd
out of 27
in EU
in 2024
in EU
in 2024
Net labour participation of men
Footnotes
- A) Most recent year: indicative, first estimate by Statistics Netherlands for the Monitor of Well-being.
- B) Insufficient data for 2018-2025 to calculate a trend.
- C) Insufficient quality to determine trend.
- D) Indicator exclusively for Well-being Fact Sheets.
- E) Not suitable for ranking.
- F) These figures have been calculated using a new method. The figures are provisional.
| Policy theme | Dimensie | Indicator | Value | Trend | Position in EU | Position in EU ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary education | Here and now | Participation in pre-school education | 96.4% of the children between 4 and the starting age of compulsory education in 2024 | 13th out of 21 in 2024 | Middle ranking | |
| Secondary education | Here and now | Pupil reading skills B) | 459 average PISA-score of 15 year-olds in 2022 | 20th out of 26 in 2022 | Low ranking | |
| Secondary education | Here and now | Pupil numeracy skills B) | 493 average PISA-score of 15 year-olds in 2022 | 2nd out of 26 in 2022 | High ranking | |
| Secondary education | Later | Early school leavers | 7.4% of the population aged 18-24 in 2025 | 8th out of 27 in 2024 | Middle ranking | |
| Vocational education and adult education | Here and now | Labour market position of students leaving MBO D) | 84.2% of the BBL and full-time BOL students find work immediately after leaving education in 2023 | |||
| Vocational education and adult education | Here and now | Digital skills | 83.6% of the population (16-74) have at least basic computer skills in 2025 | 1st out of 27 in 2025 | High ranking | |
| Vocational education and adult education | Here and now | Young people neither in employment nor in education and training | 3.6% of the population aged 15-24 in 2024 | 1st out of 27 in 2024 | High ranking | |
| Vocational education and adult education | Here and now | Satisfaction with learning opportunities | 83.9% of the population over 18 are satisfied in 2025 | increasing (increase well-being) | 14th out of 27 in 2017 | Middle ranking |
| Vocational education and adult education | Later | Level of education achieved: primary education, VMBO, MBO-1 | 25.1% of 15-74 year-olds have succesfully completed primary education, VMBO or MBO-1 in 2025 | decreasing (increase well-being) | 22nd out of 27 in 2024 | Low ranking |
| Vocational education and adult education | Later | Lifelong learning | 23.3% of the population aged 25-74 did a course in preceding 4 weeks in 2024 | 4th out of 27 in 2024 | High ranking | |
| Vocational education and adult education | Later | Level of education achieved: HAVO, VWO, MBO-2-4 | 36.1% of 15-74 year-olds have succesfully completed upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education in 2025 | decreasing (decrease well-being) | 21st out of 27 in 2024 | Low ranking |
| Higher education | Later | Level of education achieved: HBO, university | 38.2% of 15-74 year-olds have succesfully completed tertiary education in 2025 | increasing (increase well-being) | 7th out of 27 in 2024 | High ranking |
| Labour market and HR policy | Here and now | Hours worked in education | 48.3 hours worked per capita in 2025 | increasing (increase well-being) | 16th out of 27 in 2024 | Middle ranking |
| Labour market and HR policy | Here and now | Job vacancy rate in education | 16 vacancies per 1,000 jobs on 31 December in 2025 | 21st out of 26 in 2024 | Low ranking | |
| Labour market and HR policy | Here and now | Sickness absence among employees in education D) | 5.7% of the total number of available days are sick days, in 2025 | increasing (decrease well-being) | ||
| Culture | Here and now | Practising art and culture | 68% undertook a cultural activity at least once in 2024 | |||
| Culture | Here and now | Cultural visits | 91% attended at least one performance, event or exhibition in 2024 | |||
| Culture | Here and now | Satisfaction with cultural offerings in residential area | 56% is (very) satisfied in 2024 | |||
| Media | Here and now | Trust in the media | 37.5% of the population over 15 answered “very high“ or “fairly high“ in 2025 | |||
| Research and science policy | Here and now | Technologically innovative enterprises | 45% of enterprises with more than 10 employees in 2022 | |||
| Research and science policy | Here and now | Scientific publications | 3,753 publications per million of the population in 2024 | 7th out of 27 in 2024 | High ranking | |
| Research and science policy | Later | Trust in science | 7.5 score on a scale of 1-10 (10 = complete confidence) in 2025 | |||
| Emancipation | Here and now | Women in management | 29.4% of management positions are held by women in 2025 | 21st out of 27 in 2024 | Low ranking | |
| Emancipation | Here and now | Women in parliament | 39.3% of seats in parliament are held by women in 2025 | increasing (increase well-being) | 5th out of 27 in 2025 | High ranking |
| Emancipation | Here and now | Gender pay gap A) | 9.7% difference in hourly wage between men and women in 2025 | decreasing (increase well-being) | 10th out of 21 in 2024 | Middle ranking |
| Emancipation | Here and now | Economically independent men | 82.6% of men (15 to retirement age) earns at least 70% of minimum wage in 2024 | increasing (increase well-being) | ||
| Emancipation | Here and now | Economically independent women | 70.0% of women (15 to retirement age) earns at least 70% of minimum wage in 2024 | increasing (increase well-being) | ||
| Emancipation | Here and now | Physical and/or sexual abuse by (ex-)partner | 3.4 in every 1,000 women aged 15 or over suffers abuse in 2025 | |||
| Emancipation | Here and now | Young men experiencing sexual violence B) | 4.0% of men aged 13-24 experience sexual violence in 2023 | |||
| Emancipation | Here and now | Young women experiencing sexual violence B) | 20.0% of women aged 13-24 experience sexual violence in 2023 | |||
| Emancipation | Later | Feelings of discrimination | 12.0% of the population over 15 say they are discriminated against in 2023 | 18th out of 19 in 2023 | Low ranking | |
| Emancipation | Later | Net labour participation of men | 77.2% of men aged 15-74 in 2025 | increasing (increase well-being) | 2nd out of 27 in 2024 | High ranking |
| Emancipation | Later | Net labour participation of women | 69.3% of women aged 15-74 in 2025 | increasing (increase well-being) | 1st out of 27 in 2024 | High ranking |
| A) Most recent year: indicative, first estimate by Statistics Netherlands for the Monitor of Well-being. | ||||||
| B) Insufficient data for 2018-2025 to calculate a trend. | ||||||
| C) Insufficient quality to determine trend. | ||||||
| D) Indicator exclusively for Well-being Fact Sheets. | ||||||
| E) Not suitable for ranking. | ||||||
| F) These figures have been calculated using a new method. The figures are provisional. | ||||||
Further information
Statistics Netherlands and other sources have more figures that are relevant to the work of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. For more information, see: