JUST two per cent of people in Northern Ireland with a higher education qualification were unemployed three and a half years after graduation.
The latest figures, published by the Department for the Economy, are based on a survey of people who graduated in the 2012/13 academic year.
The average salary for leavers rose from £21,000 six months after graduation to £25,000 three and a half years after completing a course.
Out of 2,625 people surveyed, 72 per cent were found to be in full-time paid work and eight per cent in part-time paid employment.
Of the remaining 20 per cent, just under a third were in full-time further study, while another third were combining both work and study.
Four per cent were listed as "engaged in other activities" while two per cent were "assumed to be unemployed".
The number of people in any type of employment three and a half years on was almost ten per cent higher than the total in work six months after qualifying.
More than four-fifths of higher education graduates were employed in Northern Ireland, with 14.5% having relocated to England for work.
However, the Northern Ireland median salary, at £25,000, was £2,000 below the average for the UK as a whole.
