The employment rate for 25-64-year-olds with a university degree in Italy was 84.3% in 2023, 11 percentage points higher than the rate for people who only have a high-school diploma, Istat said in a report on Wednesday.
    The national statistics agency said that 24% of young people whose parents have a low level of education drop out of school early and only 10% of them obtain a higher-education diploma.
    In the case in which the young person has at least one parent who is a university graduate, on the other hand, the drop-out rate falls to 2% and and about 70% get degrees.
    The report said the proportion of young people in Italy with a degree has increased, although there remains a gap with respect to the EU average.
    It said the percentage of graduates among people aged 25 to 34 went up from 29.2% in 2022 to 30.6% in 2023, while the EU average went from 42% to 43.1%.
    It added that the proportion of under-30s who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) dropped to 16.1% in 2023, down from 19% in 2022 and 23.1% in 2021, while the EU average was 11.2%.
    It means that the proportion of NEETs in Italy has fallen below the level of 2007, 18.8%, the year before the start of the global economic crisis.

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