Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent in Ireland
Ireland: Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent was 35.2% in 2023. β² Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent in Ireland, 2007β2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Ireland recorded 35.2% for educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in 2023. That is the highest value across all 12 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 11.6% on the previous year and up 51.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in Ireland peaked at 35.2% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 21.1%, in 2011.
That places Ireland 4th out of 84 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 | 24.7% | 24.7% | 24.7% | 1 |
| 2010s | 24.7% | 21.1% | 27.8% | 7 |
| 2020s | 31.6% | 29.8% | 35.2% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
- 1 Luxembourg 37.1% compare
- 2 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 36.8% compare
- 3 Belgium 36.2% compare
- 5 Switzerland 34.6% compare
- 6 Lithuania 28.9% compare
- 7 Netherlands 26.7% 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 35.2% 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 35.2% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 21.1% in 2011.
- How does Ireland rank for educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent?
- Ireland ranks 4th out of 84 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 51.9%. 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, rural, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV Β· JSON β 12 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release