Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent in Ireland
Ireland: Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent was 46.1% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent in Ireland, 2007–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Ireland recorded 46.1% for educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in 2023. That is the highest value across all 12 years on record.
The figure is up 5.8% on the previous year and up 25.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in Ireland peaked at 46.1% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 29.3%, in 2011.
That places Ireland 3rd out of 90 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 12 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 33.6% | 33.6% | 33.6% | 1 |
| 2010s | 36.5% | 29.3% | 41.3% | 7 |
| 2020s | 44.6% | 43.2% | 46.1% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
- 1 Switzerland 47.2% compare
- 2 Luxembourg 46.7% compare
- 4 Georgia 45.0% compare
- 5 Korea 44.9% compare
- 6 Lithuania 44.2% 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)
- Primary secondary enrollment completion rates, gaps filled 96.48 (2022)
- School enrollment, primary 96.5% (2022)
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 46.1% in 2023, 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 46.1% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 29.3% in 2011.
- How does Ireland rank for educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent?
- Ireland ranks 3rd out of 90 countries with data for 2023.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 25.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- 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, urban, male (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release