According to the Education at a Glance 2012 report issued by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Canada maintains its leadership as the world’s most educated country.

In fact, the percentage of our population with a tertiary education has risen from 40 per cent in 2000 to 51 per cent in 2012.

In 2010, when the report was last issued, Canada was the only country with more than half its population having tertiary (post graduate and graduate) education. It remains as such.

“Canada has managed to become a world leader in education without being a leader in education spending, which totaled just 6.1 per cent of GDP in 2009, or less than the 6.3 per cent average for the OECD,” said a summary that appeared in Wall St. 24/7.

“A large amount of its spending went towards tertiary education, on which the country spent 2.5 per cent of GDP, trailing only the United States and South Korea. One of the few areas Canada did not perform well in was attracting international students, who made up just 6.6 per cent of all tertiary students — lower than the OECD’s eight-per-cent average.”

Canada is followed by Israel at 46 per cent, Japan at 45 per cent, and the United States at 42 per cent.

This article first appeared on Yonge Street.