Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Ireland
Ireland: Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or was 86.7% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Ireland, 2006–2020
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Ireland stood at 86.7%. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.3% on the previous year and up 9.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Ireland peaked at 86.7% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 74.0%, in 2006.
That places Ireland 29th out of 37 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Ireland, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 74.0% | — |
| 2007 | 75.6% | +2.1% |
| 2008 | 76.7% | +1.5% |
| 2009 | 77.6% | +1.2% |
| 2010 | 79.1% | +1.9% |
| 2011 | 80.0% | +1.2% |
| 2012 | 80.6% | +0.8% |
| 2013 | 81.9% | +1.6% |
| 2014 | 81.8% | -0.1% |
| 2015 | 82.3% | +0.6% |
| 2016 | 82.5% | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 85.7% | +3.9% |
| 2018 | 85.5% | -0.2% |
| 2019 | 85.6% | +0.1% |
| 2020 | 86.7% | +1.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 76.0% | 74.0% | 77.6% | 4 |
| 2010s | 82.5% | 79.1% | 85.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 86.7% | 86.7% | 86.7% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More education data for Ireland
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), gaps filled 2,021 tertiary education (2022)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), annual growth 0.0495 % change on previous year (2022)
- 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)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Ireland?
- Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Ireland was 86.7% in 2020, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 86.7% in 2020.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 74.0% in 2006.
- How does Ireland rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- Ireland ranks 29th out of 37 countries with data for 2020.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.7%. 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 lower secondary education or higher, population 25+ years, non-immigrant background, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release