Education at a Glance 2026: Italy
Table of contents
This country note for Education at a Glance 2026 provides an overview of the key characteristics of the education system in Italy. In line with this year’s thematic focus, it emphasises indicators from the chapter on teacher shortages while also covering other parts of the education system. The data in this note are provided for the latest available year. Readers are referred to the corresponding tables in Education at a Glance 2026 for notes and reference years.
Young people who disengage early from education are at greater risk of low educational attainment and poor labour-market outcomes later in life. Italy has made substantial progress in reducing the share of young people who are neither employed nor in education or training (NEET) and the share of young adults with low educational attainment. In Italy, the share of 18-24 year-old NEETs fell from 30% to 16% between 2015 and 2025, while the share of 25-34 year-olds without upper secondary attainment decreased from 26% to 19% over the same period.
The earnings advantage for tertiary-educated adults in Italy is lower than the OECD average: tertiary-educated full-time full-year workers earn 35% more than those with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment, compared with 54% on average across OECD countries.
National averages can mask substantial differences in educational and labour-market outcomes within countries. Educational and employment outcomes vary substantially across Italian regions. The share of tertiary-educated adults ranges from 17% in Sicily to 29% in Lazio, and Italy has the largest regional gaps in employment rates between the regions with highest and lowest employment rates, although the gap decreases with educational attainment.
Participation in early childhood education and care is widespread across OECD countries, particularly from age 3 onwards. Participation is high in Italy, with 94% of children between the age of 3 and the starting age of primary education enrolled in ECEC, compared with 90% on average across the OECD.
Successful completion of upper secondary education is an important milestone in students’ educational trajectories. In Italy, 84% of new entrants into upper secondary education complete a general or vocational programme within two years of the theoretical end of the programme, similar to the average of OECD and partner countries of 85%.
Government expenditure on primary to post-secondary non-tertiary education in Italy decreased from 2.8% of GDP to 2.7% between 2015 and 2023 (OECD average: 3.2% in 2015 and 3.1% in 2023), while it increased from 0.8% to 0.9% for tertiary education over the same period (OECD average: 1.2% in 2015 and 1.1% in 2023).
Italy has a relatively high share of second-career teachers: 14.9% of lower secondary teachers are second-career teachers, compared with 8.4% on average across the OECD. In addition, Italy also has a relatively old teaching workforce, with 36% of secondary teachers aged 55 and over in 2024 (down from 46% in 2015), compared with 25% on average across countries with available data.
Competitive salaries can play an important role in attracting and retaining qualified teachers. Teachers in Italy earn substantially less than other tertiary-educated workers: pre-primary teachers earn on average 36% less and lower secondary teachers 33% less. However, Italy has recently adopted measures to increase teachers’ salaries.
Recruiting second-career teachers is a common strategy for addressing teacher shortages and helps to diversify the profile of the teaching workforce. According to the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024, on average across the OECD, 8.4% of lower secondary teachers are second-career teachers; in Italy, they make up 14.9% of all teachers (Table 5).
According to the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024, a large majority of lower secondary teachers (68.4%) are satisfied with their terms of employment (barring salaries) on average across the OECD. In contrast, the share of lower secondary teachers who are satisfied with their salaries is much lower at 38.7% on average. In Italy, 66.7% of lower secondary teachers are satisfied with their terms of employment and 22.6% are satisfied with their salaries (Table 5).
Teachers tend to be older than other workers. On average across countries with available data, 25% of secondary teachers are aged 55 and over, compared to 19% of employed individuals holding at least a master’s degree and 21% of the overall employed population. Italy follows a similar pattern: in 2024, 36% of secondary teachers were 55 or older (down from 46% in 2015), compared to 23% of employed individuals holding at least a master’s degree and 23% of the overall employed population (Table 4 and Figure 10 in Education at a Glance).
The number of teachers a system needs is not determined by student numbers alone. On average across the OECD, measured in full-time equivalents, the number of teachers in public and private primary schools rose by 13% between 2015 and 2024, even though the number of primary students rose by only 2% over the same period, a divergence driven by policy choices around class sizes, teachers’ working hours and instruction time. In Italy, the number of primary teachers increased by 4% over this period, while the number of students decreased by 11% (Table 7).
Looking ahead, the number of children aged 5-14 in Italy is projected to decrease by 18% between 2024 and 2033, pointing to lower demand for teachers if other policies remain unchanged (Table 7). However, as argued above, demographic trends are only one factor shaping teacher workforce needs, and their effects can vary depending on how population change is distributed across regions. Teacher workforce needs also depend on policy decisions related to class sizes, teacher attrition, and funding.
Educational attainment remains at an all-time high in 2025 as more people obtain advanced qualifications. Across the OECD, 43% of working-age adults (25-64 year-olds) have a tertiary qualification, while the share of adults with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment is slightly lower at 39%. In Italy, the share of adults with tertiary attainment is below the OECD average at 22%, while the share of adults with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment is above the OECD average at 45% (Table A1.1).
The share of young adults without upper secondary attainment continues to decline across the OECD, standing at 12% in 2025. This trend is also apparent in Italy, where the share of 25-34 year-olds without upper secondary attainment decreased from 26% to 19% between 2015 and 2025 (Table A1.2).
While more young adults obtain a tertiary qualification, the share of individuals whose highest qualification is upper secondary with a vocational orientation is decreasing in almost all OECD countries. In contrast, the share is increasing in Italy, where 29% of all 55-64 year-olds have upper secondary vocational attainment in 2025, compared to 34% of all 25-34 year-olds (Table A1.3).
Youth and young adults who are neither employed nor in education or training (NEET) are a key policy concern, as prolonged periods of inactivity at a young age can have lasting negative effects on socio-economic outcomes later in life. In Italy, the share of young people who are neither employed nor in education or training (NEET) has fallen substantially in Italy over the past decade: 16% of all 18-24 year-olds were NEET in 2025, down from 30% in 2015. For comparison, the average share of NEETs across OECD countries with available data for both years was 13% in 2025 and 16% in 2015 (Table A2.2).
Education at a Glance 2026 reports several policy initiatives from a number of countries targeting youths at risk of becoming NEETs. Italy supports young people who are NEET through a range of policy initiatives, including Garanzia Giovani, the national implementation of the EU Youth Guarantee, the Programme Garanzia di Occupabilità dei Lavoratori (GOL), and the 2021-27 Programme Giovani, Donne e Lavoro. Together, these initiatives aim to facilitate young people’s transition into employment by providing personalised support, skills development opportunities and access to training, apprenticeships, internships and employment pathways. Italy also seeks to prevent young people becoming NEET through education policies aimed at reducing early school leaving. The Agenda Sud initiative, launched in 2023, supports primary and secondary schools in Southern Italy through targeted interventions designed to encourage young people to attain upper secondary qualifications, improve their employability and reduce the risk of becoming NEET. Launched in 2024, Agenda Nord complements Agenda Sud by extending targeted measures against educational disadvantage to schools in Italy's Central and Northern regions.
Employment outcomes for recent tertiary graduates vary across countries and are shaped by economic conditions, labour demand, and public policy. In Italy, the unemployment rate among tertiary-educated young adults decreased from 16% in 2015 to 6% in 2025. The corresponding rates across OECD countries with available data for both years were 7% on average in 2015 and 5% in 2025 (Table A3.3 and Figure 1).
In per cent of 25-34 year-olds in the labour force
Note: The OECD average on the right is based on a fixed sample of 34 countries.
For data, see OECD (2026) Education at a Glance 2026: OECD Indicators, https://doi.org/10.1787/b4968bbc-en, Figure A3.1 and Unemployment rates of adults, by educational attainment, age group and gender (indicator), https://data-explorer.oecd.org/s/570 (accessed on 27 August 2026).
The labour-market significance of advanced qualifications is also reflected in earnings. In almost every OECD country, workers (aged 25-64) without a tertiary qualification have earnings below the national average. In Italy, full-time, full-year workers with general upper secondary as their highest level of attainment earn 9% less than the national average, those with vocational upper secondary attainment earn 4% less and those with below upper secondary attainment earn 23% less. The corresponding wage gaps on average across the OECD are 13% for general upper secondary attainment, 17% for vocational upper secondary attainment and 31% for below upper secondary attainment (Figure A4.1).
On average across OECD countries, full-time full-year workers aged 25-64 with a tertiary qualification earn 54% more than those who have upper secondary educational attainment. In Italy, the earnings advantage for tertiary-educated adults is lower than the OECD average (35%), with those with a bachelor’s degree earning only 4% more than those with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment and those with a master’s or doctoral degree earning 44% more.
As the demand for skills in the labour market changes, participation in lifelong learning is essential for all adults. According to the OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), among employed adults, younger adults (aged 25-44) are more likely to participate in non-formal education or training than older adults (aged 45-64), but differences between the age groups are often small. In Italy, 34% of 25-44 year-olds had participated in non-formal education or training over the last 12 months, compared to 32% of 45-64 year-olds. Across the OECD, average participation rates are 52% among 25-44 year-olds and 45% among 45-64 year-olds (Figure A5.2).
Workers with higher educational attainment are much more likely to be in jobs where they can work from home in most countries. In Italy, 28% of tertiary-educated workers sometimes or usually work from home compared to 10% of workers with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment (Figure A6.3).
Educational outcomes can vary to a large extent both across OECD countries and between regions within individual countries. In Italy, the share of tertiary-educated adults varied from 17% in Sicily to 29% in Lazio in 2025, while at the other end of the spectrum the share of adults without an upper secondary education ranged from 22% in the Autonomous Province of Trento to 43% in Sicily. Italy is the country with the largest regional gaps in employment rates between the regions with highest and lowest employment rates, although this gap decreases with educational attainment. It reaches 38 percentage points among adults with below upper secondary education, 28 percentage points for adults with upper secondary or post-secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education and 18 percentage points for tertiary-educated ones.
Participation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is common among children from the age of 3 in all OECD countries. In Italy, 94% of children between the age of 3 and the starting age of primary education (age 6 in Italy) were enrolled in ECEC in 2024, higher than the OECD average of 90% (Figure B1.1).
The number of primary and secondary schools – and thus their geographical proximity to students – varies across countries. Many countries have more primary than lower secondary schools, reflecting the desire to provide education close to primary students’ homes while offering secondary students the greater choice of specialist subjects that can only be provided by larger schools. In Italy, there are 2.07 primary schools for each lower secondary school, similar to the OECD average of 1.97 (Figure B2.4).
In most countries, there is no strong alignment between trends in the number of students and trends in the number of schools at lower secondary level. In Italy, the number of lower secondary students decreased by 0.32% annually between 2015 and 2024, while the number of lower secondary schools increased by 0.03% annually over the same period. On average across the OECD, the number of students increased by 0.96%, while the number of schools decreased by 0.10% (Figure B2.1).
Transitions from one level of education to the next are critical junctions in a student’s trajectory and have a major influence on educational outcomes. One year after the last grade of lower secondary education, 92% of students in Italy are enrolled in an upper secondary or other education programme, 1% of students are repeating the last grade in lower secondary and 7% are not enrolled in formal education. The share of students who are not enrolled is above the average of 5% among the 22 countries and economies with available data (Figure B3.1).
In upper secondary education, 84% of new entrants in Italy complete a general or vocational programme within two years of the theoretical end of the programme (average of OECD and partner countries at 85%). By this point, 1% of the cohort remain enrolled, while 15% have dropped out without qualifying. In Italy, women are 11 percentage points more likely to complete their upper secondary programme than their men peers, a gap that is larger than the gap in most other countries with available data (Table B3.2 and Table B3.3).
The transition from upper secondary education to other programmes or the labour market is another important milestone in a student’s career. One year after the end of their upper secondary programme, 60% of students are enrolled in a bachelor’s or master’s degree programme in Italy, 1% are enrolled in a post-secondary non-tertiary or short-cycle tertiary programme, 0.2% are enrolled in another upper secondary or other type of programme and 38% are no longer enrolled in any education. Of these, 44% are employed. In comparison, on average across countries with available data, 35% of upper secondary graduates are enrolled in a bachelor’s or master’s degree programme, 13% are enrolled in a post-secondary non-tertiary or short-cycle tertiary programme, 10% are enrolled in another upper secondary or other type of programme and 42% are no longer enrolled in education (Table B3.4).
At tertiary level (ISCED 5-8), most OECD countries host a larger number of international students than they send abroad. On average across the OECD, outbound internationally mobile students account for 6% of all national students (whether enrolled domestically or abroad), while inbound students account for 12% of all students enrolled domestically in 2024. In Italy the share of outbound international students is 4%, while inbound international students average 5%. The top three destination countries for outbound students in Italy are Germany (13%), France (12%) and Austria (10%), while the top three origin countries of inbound students are Iran (12%), Türkiye (6%) and China (6%) (Table B4.3 and Table B4.4).
In many countries, inbound mobility has increased faster than outbound mobility among tertiary students. On average across the OECD, the share of inbound mobile students increased by 4 percentage points between 2015 and 2024, and the share of outbound mobile students increased by 1 percentage point. In Italy, the share of inbound students remained the same, while the share of outbound students increased by 1 percentage point (Table B4.3 and Table B4.4).
Most investment in education comes from public sources. On average across the OECD, government expenditure on primary to post-secondary non-tertiary education (based on initial funds, on educational institutions) amounted to 3% of GDP in 2023, while it reached 1% at the tertiary level. In Italy, government expenditure was lower, at 2.7% for primary to post-secondary non-tertiary levels and 0.7% for tertiary education. Private expenditure averaged 0.3% of GDP across OECD countries for primary to post-secondary non-tertiary education and 0.4% for tertiary education, while in Italy it reached 0.1% and 0.2% respectively (Table C1.8).
In OECD countries with available data for both years, average government expenditure on primary to tertiary education (based on final funds, inside and outside educational institutions) decreased slightly from 4.4% of GDP in 2015 to 4.2% in 2023 (from 3.2% to 3.1% for primary to post-secondary non-tertiary education and from 1.2% to 1.1% for tertiary education). Over the same period, it remained constant at 3.6% in Italy (it decreased from 2.8% to 2.7% for primary to post-secondary non-tertiary education and it increased from 0.8% to 0.9% for tertiary education), thus defying the trend of declining government expenditure on education as a share of GDP (Figure 2).
Total government expenditure on education (inside and outside of educational institutions); primary to tertiary education
1. Data include or exclude some categories, please refer to the source table for more information.
For data, see OECD (2026) Education at a Glance 2026: OECD Indicators, https://doi.org/10.1787/b4968bbc-en, Figure C1.2 and Table C1.7.
Government expenditure on primary to tertiary education as share of GDP (based on final funds, on educational institutions, including R&D) varies by a factor of approximately two across OECD countries (ranging from 2.4% to 5.2%), while government expenditure per student varies by a factor of ten (from USD 3 398 to USD 32 832 adjusted for purchasing power parity) as differences in income levels mean nominal expenditure tends to vary more than relative expenditure. On average across the OECD, expenditure per student from primary to tertiary education was USD 13 601 in 2023, while in Italy it was USD 12 895 (Table C1.4 and Table C1.1).
In early childhood education, government expenditure per child has grown substantially between 2015 and 2023 in many OECD countries. This was also the case in Italy, where expenditure per child aged 3-5 in 2023 was USD 10 294 compared to USD 6 745 in 2015 (Table C2.3).
Government expenditure per student on education tends to rise with the level of education. In primary education, expenditure per student was USD 14 313 in 2023 in Italy and USD 12 893 on average across the OECD. In lower secondary education, it was USD 15 034 in Italy and USD 14 291 on average across the OECD. Thus, Italy is among the majority of OECD countries where expenditure is higher at lower secondary level than at primary level (Table C3.1).
Expenditure can be divided into capital and current expenditure: the former finances investment in assets such as infrastructure, while the latter covers regular operating costs. Current expenditure can be further broken down into staff compensation and other current expenditure, such as purchases of goods and services and routine maintenance. In Italy, 77% of current expenditure in primary educational institutions is dedicated to staff compensation compared to 79% on average across the OECD, while the remainder is dedicated to other current expenditure (Figure C3.3).
On average across the OECD, government expenditure per student is the highest at bachelor’s and above levels despite being the levels where government expenditure accounts for the smallest share of total expenditure. Italy is among the countries where government expenditure constitutes a smaller share of total expenditure compared to the OECD average. Government expenditure per student was USD 9 709 in 2023, corresponding to 62% of total expenditure at bachelor’s and above levels. In comparison, average government expenditure per student across the OECD was USD 16 405, amounting to 68% of total expenditure (Table C5.1).
Most countries increased their investment in pre-primary education in recent years. This is also reflected in the ratio of children to teachers. Across the OECD, the number of children enrolled at this level decreased slightly by 2% between 2015 and 2024 while the number of teachers increased by 14%, resulting in a 14% reduction in the child-to-teacher ratio. In Italy, the number of children enrolled in pre-primary education decreased by 24%, while the number of pre-primary teachers also decreased by 7%, resulting in a 18% decrease of the child-to-teacher ratio (Figure D2.1).
In most countries, salaries of teachers in public institutions are lower than the salaries of other tertiary-educated workers, especially for teachers at lower levels of education. This is also the case in Italy, where pre-primary teachers earned on average 36% less than other tertiary-educated workers, while lower secondary teachers earned on average 33% less than other tertiary-educated workers. Italy has recently adopted measures to increase teachers’ remuneration, including salary increases agreed through recent renewals of the national collective agreement for the education and research sector (Table D3.2).
Teachers spend only a fraction of their working time teaching; the remainder is devoted to other tasks, including lesson preparation and marking. On average across the OECD, primary teachers taught 770 hours per year compared to 710 hours per year in lower secondary education. In Italy, annual minimum teaching hours were 752 in primary education and 616 in lower secondary education. Thus, Italy was among the large majority of countries where teachers in lower secondary education had to teach fewer hours than those in primary education (Figure 3).
Net statutory teaching time in hours per year, in public institutions
Note: Please refer to the source table for information on whether the data refer to typical, minimum or maximum hours.
1. Actual teaching time (in Latvia except for pre-primary level).
2. Reference year differs from 2023. Refer to the source table for details.
3. Average planned teaching time in each school at the beginning of the school year.
For data, see OECD (2026) Education at a Glance 2026: OECD Indicators, https://doi.org/10.1787/b4968bbc-en, Figure D4.1 and Table D4.1.
Women represent the majority of teachers at all levels of education except tertiary. Teachers in pre-primary education are almost entirely women with 96% of teachers being female on average across the OECD. The share of women among pre-primary teachers in Italy is even higher at 98%. At 76%, the share of female teachers in lower secondary education is lower, although it is still above the OECD average of 68% (Table D5.1).
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For more information on Education at a Glance 2026 and to access the full set of indicators, see: https://doi.org/10.1787/b4968bbc-en.
For more information on the methodology used during the data collection for each indicator, the references to the sources and the specific notes for each country, see Education at a Glance 2026: Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes, https://doi.org/10.1787/dcf64a14-en.
For general information on the methodology, please refer to the OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics 2018, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264304444-en.
Updated data can be found online at http://data-explorer.oecd.org/ and by following the StatLinks in the publication.
Explore, compare and visualise more data and analysis using the Education GPS: https://gpseducation.oecd.org/.
Questions can be directed to the Education at a Glance team at the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills: EDU.EAG@oecd.org.
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