Kazakhstan has the best education level in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), with 276 out of every 1,000 Kazakhstani citizens holding a university degree, according to an analysis of Finprom.kz based on data from the CIS Statistical Committee.
The CIS unites most of the former republics of the Soviet Union.
Russia is second with 267 holders of a university degree per 1,000 citizens, followed by Belarus (266) and Kyrgyzstan (245). The lowest levels are in Turkmenistan (81) and Tajikistan (72).
Overall, 1.4 million young specialists graduated from higher education institutions in the CIS in 2024, 10.1% fewer than in 2021.
The largest number of university graduates was in the most populous CIS country, Russia—827,600. Uzbekistan was second with 211,200 graduates. Kazakhstan ranked third with 147,400, followed by Belarus (53,700), Tajikistan (45,700), and Kyrgyzstan (41,200).
Belarus has the best vocational education level in the CIS: 306 out of every 1,000 people, compared to 280 in Kazakhstan.
The number of graduates from vocational schools in the CIS in 2024 totaled 1.1 million, an 11.3% increase since 2021. Russia accounted for almost 70% of this total: 688,000. Kazakhstan was second with 158,700, followed by Uzbekistan (81,200), Kyrgyzstan (32,900), and Tajikistan (23,000).
Russia leads the CIS in education quality. According to the Worldostats portal, Russia ranked 36th in the Education Quality Index 2025. Kazakhstan ranked 49th, Kyrgyzstan 67th, and Uzbekistan 83rd. Tajikistan has the worst education quality, ranking 107th globally.
