Ireland vs Japan: Share of the population with tertiary education
Ireland
50.3%
in 2020
Japan
47.2%
in 2020
Ireland rank
7th
Japan rank
8th
Share of the population with tertiary education over time
- Ireland
- Japan
How they compare
Ireland currently reports 50.3% against 47.2% in Japan, a difference of 3.1%.
That makes Ireland's figure about 1.1 times Japan's.
The two have swapped places 5 times across 31 shared years of data; in 1870 it was Japan ahead.
Ireland ranks 7th and Japan ranks 8th of 111 countries.
Across the 16 decades both report, Ireland averaged higher in 5 and Japan in 10.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Ireland | Japan | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.1% | Ireland |
| 1880s | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.1% | Ireland |
| 1890s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% | — |
| 1900s | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.1% | Ireland |
| 1910s | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.1% | Japan |
| 1920s | 0.7% | 1.2% | 0.5% | Japan |
| 1930s | 1.4% | 2.4% | 0.9% | Japan |
| 1940s | 2.6% | 3.8% | 1.2% | Japan |
| 1950s | 3.9% | 5.4% | 1.6% | Japan |
| 1960s | 4.7% | 6.5% | 1.8% | Japan |
| 1970s | 6.0% | 9.0% | 3.0% | Japan |
| 1980s | 11.1% | 18.0% | 6.9% | Japan |
| 1990s | 19.2% | 26.0% | 6.7% | Japan |
| 2000s | 32.0% | 34.4% | 2.5% | Japan |
| 2010s | 49.6% | 42.4% | 7.2% | Ireland |
| 2020s | 50.3% | 47.2% | 3.1% | Ireland |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of the population with tertiary education, Ireland or Japan?
- Ireland, at 50.3% against 47.2% in Japan as of 2020.
- What is the difference in share of the population with tertiary education between Ireland and Japan?
- 3.1%, with Ireland ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Ireland and Japan?
- 31 years are reported by both, from 1870 to 2020.
- How do Ireland and Japan rank globally for share of the population with tertiary education?
- Ireland ranks 7th and Japan ranks 8th 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.