On the occasion of World Teachers Day yesterday, Eurostat released the latest data on the teaching profession in the EU, with women dominating the workforce by a significant margin.
According to the data, in 2019 the teaching workforce was predominantly female in all the EU countries. The highest share of female teachers was recorded in Latvia (87%), followed by Lithuania (85%), Bulgaria (84%), Slovenia and Estonia (both 83%).
Meanwhile, the country with the highest share of male teachers was Denmark (38%), followed by Luxembourg (35%), Spain (34%) and Greece (33%).
In 2019, there were 5.2 million teachers in the EU employed in primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education. This marked a 5% increase compared with 2013 (5.0 million).
Women accounted for the majority of this workforce. In 2019, 73% of teachers employed in primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education were women (3.8 million), a 6% increase compared with 2013 (3.6 million). Meanwhile, the number of male teachers increased by just 2% when comparing 2019 with 2013.
In terms of age, in 2019, there were 0.4 million (7% of the total) teachers less than 30 years old in the three education levels. This number increased by 10% compared with 2013. In the same year, 2 million teachers were aged 50 years or more, forming 39% of the total (from 38% in 2013).
UNESCO FACT SHEET: World Teachers’ Day 2021 fact sheet - UNESCO Digital Library
