Latvia at EU average for online education

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In 2021, 27% of people aged 16 to 74 in the EU reported that they did an online course or used online learning material in the last three months prior to the survey, a 4 percentage points (pp) increase compared with 23% in 2020, according to figures released by Eurostat January 24 to mark the International Day of Education.

In 2021, among all EU Member States, Ireland had the highest share (46%) of people aged 16 to 74 doing an online course or using online learning material. Finland and Sweden both registered a share of 45%, followed by the Netherlands with 44%.

Latvia sat at the average EU level of 27%, alongside France, though the figure has jumped substantially from 21% the previous year and has almost doubled on the 14% recorded in 2017. Fellow Baltic states Estonia and Lithuania recorded figures of 42% and 29% respectively for 2021.

Online learning in EU, 2021
Online learning in EU, 2021

At the bottom of the class, doing online courses or using online learning material was not very common in Romania (10%), Bulgaria (12%), and Croatia (18%). 

Compared with 2019 before the pandemic, the share of people doing online courses or using online learning material increased in all Member States, except for Romania where it decreased (-4pp) to 10%. Among the sharpest increases were the Netherlands (+21pp), followed by Luxembourg and Slovenia (both +19pp), and Greece (+18pp). 

In the EU, young people aged 16 to 24 have taken more to online learning than the average adult population. In 2021, 39% of young people reported doing an online course and 49% used online learning material, compared with 23% and 27% among adults aged 25 to 34, and 20% and 23% among adults aged 35 to 44. The shares continue on a downward trend as age increases, hitting the lowest point among older people (aged 65 to 74), where 3% did an online course and 4% used online learning material. 

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