But as more people attained higher levels of education, skills have become less scarce and skill premiums have declined accordingly (Figure 12). The wage premium for a completed tertiary education, for example, fell to 31% in 2012. Concretely, this meant that even people that were not able to improve their educational attainments personally saw their earning opportunities rise with the emergence of more skilled labour. In other words, improving access to education has had positive externalities on low-educated individuals.