21 percent of residents
are university graduates

Percentage of female graduates equal to men

More than one fifth of the resident population are university graduates, as shown by a survey conducted by the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS).

According to CAS' Labor Force and Households’ Living Conditions Survey (LFHLCS), the percentage of male graduates is equal to that of female graduates.

The increase in the number of universities has contributed to these results, but it does not mean that all graduates are ready to enter the labor market, according to Robert Kasparian, former director of CAS, who led several similar studies in the past.

“There is a mismatch between supply and demand in the market, and there are many non-qualified graduates,” he said.

The illiteracy rate for residents older than ten years decreased 50 percent compared to 1996 figures. It has reached 7.4 percent at the national level. “The downtrend in illiteracy continues," said Riad Tabbarah, a former UN official who has undertaken many population studies, including assignments in support to CAS.

The illiteracy rate among Lebanese nationals is 6.3 percent. It reaches 12.5 percent for non-Lebanese residents. Similarly to the CAS 2009 survey, women illiteracy rates are double those of men. “Although illiteracy is still probably higher among women than men, this applies only to older women. Enrollment rate among females is about equal to that of males at the primary level but it is higher for females in all other levels of education from the intermediate level through university,” he said.

The average years of education all over the country are 11.6 years. It increased 47 percent compared to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) figures for 2012.

Lebanese students have a high rate of school enrollment which reaches 99.2 percent in the age group five to nine years. Non-Lebanese students school enrollment rate is at 77.8 percent for the same age group. The school enrollment rates for Lebanese students aged 3-24 years is 79 percent compared to 48 percent for non-Lebanese.

The survey, which was conducted with the technical cooperation of the International Labour Organization (ILO), covers inhabitants living in residential dwellings in Lebanon. The sample consisted of 40,000 households. Data collection took place between April 2018 and March 2019.