Western Balkans Competitiveness Outlook 2024
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Economic convergence of North Macedonia in the skills cluster
".." denotes complete data unavailability
Performance relative to
Change
the EU
Policy outcomes
OECD good policy practices,
standards, and tools
Performance relative
to the OECD
Change
2008-
2012
2017
2013- 2018-
2022
2008-12 to
2018-22
2016- 2018- 2020-
2017 2019 2022
2016-17 to
2020-22
Skills
Employment rate (% of the 15-64
0.71
0.78
0.82
+0.11
population)
NEET rate (% of the 15-24
0.44
0.47
0.51
+0.07
population)
CO Employment Policy
0.50 0.46 0.66
+0.16
Output per hour worked (2017
0.45
0.43
0.40
-0.05
PPP $ GDP)
PISA average score
0.76
0.83
+0.07
CO Education Policy
Lifelong learning (% pop. 25-64)
0.11 0.09
-0.02
Tertiary education achievement
0.40
0.65
+0.25
(% pop. 25-34)
CO Science, Technology, and
Innovation Policy
0.38
0.42 0.48
+0.10
R&D expenditure (%GDP)
0.12
0.21
0.16
+0.04
0.54
0.56 0.58
+0.04
Convergence with OECD good practice:
Overall, North Macedonia's policies
increasingly align with OECD good
practices in all policy dimensions of the
skills cluster
However, while advancements are
promising, they remain modest; as of
2021, none of the three examined policy
areas had achieved more than 66%
convergence with OECD standards
Within skills cluster, North Macedonia's
progress towards OECD standards has
been strongest in employment policy
Convergence of policy outcomes:
Number of people attaining tertiary education demonstrates highest degree of convergence, rising from 40% to 65% of
EU average (2013-2022); however, participation rates in lifelong learning activities still significantly lower than EU levels.
North Macedonia's low spending on research and development remains persistent challenge to foster skills for innovation →
in 2020, R&D expenditure was only 0.37% of national GDP which is markedly below EU average (2.32%)
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