Canada has won gold in the world’s education games. We were recently ranked first overall in The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Education at a Glance 2012 report.

The report ranks countries by calculating the proportion of residents with a college or college equivalent degree in the group’s 34 member nations and other major economies.

The top 10 includes:

10. Ireland

9. Australia

8. Finland

7. United Kingdom

6. South Korea

5. New Zealand

4. United States

3. Japan

2. Israel

1. Canada

Overall, the report shows an increase in education numbers across the globe.

“In 1997, on average across OECD countries, 36% of 25-64 year-olds had not completed upper secondary education, 43% had completed upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education, and another 21% had completed tertiary education,” said the report.

“By 2010, the proportion of adults who had not attained an upper secondary education had fallen by 10 percentage points, the proportion with a tertiary degree had risen by 10 percentage points, and the proportion with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education had increased marginally, by one percentage point.”

The report also notes that Canada is a world leader in education, without being a leader in education spending. The nation’s education spending is just 6.1% of GDP in 2009, or less than the 6.3% average for the OECD.