Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent in Ireland
Ireland: Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent was 1.33 NPIA in 2020. β¬ Flat
Latest (2020)
1.33 NPIA
Change on year
down 0.5%
World rank
6th
of 33 countries
All-time high
1.4 NPIA
in 2016
All-time low
1.33 NPIA
in 2020
Years of data
7
2014β2020
Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent in Ireland, 2014β2020
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in NPIA.
Analysis
In 2020, educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in Ireland stood at 1.33 NPIA. That is the lowest value across all 7 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.5% on the previous year and down 3.2% over ten years.
That places Ireland 6th out of 33 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top quarter.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 1.36 NPIA | 1.34 NPIA | 1.4 NPIA | 6 |
| 2020s | 1.33 NPIA | 1.33 NPIA | 1.33 NPIA | 1 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
- 3 Bulgaria 1.45 NPIA compare
- 4 Luxembourg 1.39 NPIA compare
- 5 Austria 1.35 NPIA compare
- 7 Hungary 1.31 NPIA compare
- 8 Poland, Republic of 1.3 NPIA compare
- 9 Czech Republic 1.29 NPIA compare
More education data for Ireland
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 42,162 (2023)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 2 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 65.7% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 18.1% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 13 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 5 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 96.5% (2022)
- Primary education, teachers, per capita 0.0079 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in Ireland?
- Educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in Ireland was 1.33 NPIA in 2020, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 1.4 NPIA in 2016.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.33 NPIA in 2020.
- How does Ireland rank for educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent?
- Ireland ranks 6th out of 33 countries with data for 2020.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this Ireland data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent education or higher, population 25+ years, adjusted native parity index (NPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV Β· JSON β 7 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release