NSO: Business, administration and law graduates make up third of 2022 graduates

Students in the business, administration and law fields accounted for more than a third of all graduates in 2022, the National Statistics Office found.

According to the NSO, the majority of tertiary graduates (58.5%) achieved a Bachelor’s or equivalent degree. Following closely, 33.1% percent attained a Master’s or equivalent degree.

With regards to gender distribution, women once again made up the majority of graduates in 2022, constituting 55.6% of the 5,472 graduates. In fact, women surpassed men across all levels of tertiary education, except for when it comes to PhD levels.

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The NSO also found that the largest demographic group falls within the 20 to 29 years age bracket, comprising a substantial 72.0% of the total. Meanwhile, 74.4 percent of graduates graduated from full-time programmes. 

Foreign graduates constituted a significant 24.8% of the total graduates in 2022, reflecting a notable 10.6% increase from the previous year. EU citizens, excluding Maltese, represented the largest segment of foreign tertiary graduates, accounting for 57.8%.

According to the NSO, the 'Business, administration, and law' field emerged as the most popular among tertiary graduates, constituting 34.6% of the total graduates. Following closely, the 'Health and welfare' field of study accounted for 19.6%. 

Meanwhile, the 'Agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and veterinary' field was the least favoured, amounting to a mere 0.3% of graduates.

When it comes to STEM graduates, 15.4% of graduates attained a qualification in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Of these, 597 were males, while 247 were females. Notably, female STEM graduates demonstrated a 2.9% increase over the previous year, whereas male STEM graduates decreased by 1.8%.