Iceland vs Ireland: Share of the population with tertiary education
Iceland
51.4%
in 2020
Ireland
50.3%
in 2020
Iceland rank
5th
Ireland rank
7th
Share of the population with tertiary education over time
- Iceland
- Ireland
How they compare
Iceland currently reports 51.4% against 50.3% in Ireland, a difference of 1.1%.
The two have swapped places 5 times across 31 shared years of data; in 1870 it was Ireland ahead.
Iceland ranks 5th and Ireland ranks 7th of 111 countries.
Across the 16 decades both report, Iceland averaged higher in 2 and Ireland in 13.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Iceland | Ireland | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.1% | Ireland |
| 1880s | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.1% | Ireland |
| 1890s | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.1% | Ireland |
| 1900s | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% | Ireland |
| 1910s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.0% | — |
| 1920s | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.0% | Ireland |
| 1930s | 1.2% | 1.4% | 0.2% | Ireland |
| 1940s | 2.0% | 2.6% | 0.5% | Ireland |
| 1950s | 3.1% | 3.9% | 0.7% | Ireland |
| 1960s | 4.6% | 4.7% | 0.1% | Ireland |
| 1970s | 6.2% | 6.0% | 0.2% | Iceland |
| 1980s | 10.3% | 11.1% | 0.8% | Ireland |
| 1990s | 15.2% | 19.2% | 4.1% | Ireland |
| 2000s | 22.4% | 32.0% | 9.6% | Ireland |
| 2010s | 37.1% | 49.6% | 12.5% | Ireland |
| 2020s | 51.4% | 50.3% | 1.1% | Iceland |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of the population with tertiary education, Iceland or Ireland?
- Iceland, at 51.4% against 50.3% in Ireland as of 2020.
- What is the difference in share of the population with tertiary education between Iceland and Ireland?
- 1.1%, with Iceland ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Iceland and Ireland?
- 31 years are reported by both, from 1870 to 2020.
- How do Iceland and Ireland rank globally for share of the population with tertiary education?
- Iceland ranks 5th and Ireland ranks 7th of 111 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Share of the population with tertiary education. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Percentage of the population aged 25 to 65 years who have either completed or partially completed tertiary education.