In 2013 the educational income gap was smaller in Iceland than in any other European country. Those who only had completed basic education had 86.3% of the median equivalised disposable income of people with tertiary education. The following countries were Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands with 80.3%, 77% and 73.6%. The median equivalised disposable income for those with basic education in Iceland was the fourth highest in Europe. However, Iceland was 15th in Europe when looking at people with tertiary education. Equivalised disposable income takes into account total household income and the number and age of household members and has been adjusted for price differences between countries.

Notes: The countries are ordered by the median income of people with upper secondary education. Only people age 18 to 64 are included. PPS is used to adjust for price differences between countries.
Source: Eurostat.

The latest results for Iceland are from 2014 and show that people with basic education had 87.7% of the income of those with tertiary education but had 79.7% in 2004 when EU-SILC was commenced in Iceland. During the same period the income of people with upper secondary education went from 84.5% of the income received by people with tertiary education to 91.6%. The difference between the disposable income of people with tertiary education and other educational groups was stable until the year 2010 but has decreased since then. 

Notes: The figure shows median equivalized disposable income in each group

Statistical Series
Statistics Iceland has published an issue in the Statistical Series about income and education. More details on the results can be found in the Statistical Series.

Income and education 2014 - Statistical Series

Statistics