Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower urban both in Spain
Spain: Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower urban both was 85.1% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Spain, 1970–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Spain recorded 85.1% for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in 2023.
The figure is up 0.5% on the previous year and up 13.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Spain peaked at 99.7% in 1981 and was at its lowest, 62.3%, in 2004.
Spain ranks 46th of 97 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 22 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower urban both in Spain, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 99.4% | — |
| 1981 | 99.7% | +0.4% |
| 2004 | 62.3% | -37.6% |
| 2005 | 65.9% | +5.8% |
| 2006 | 67.1% | +1.9% |
| 2007 | 67.8% | +1.1% |
| 2008 | 68.4% | +0.8% |
| 2009 | 69.1% | +1.0% |
| 2010 | 69.9% | +1.1% |
| 2011 | 70.9% | +1.4% |
| 2012 | 71.8% | +1.3% |
| 2013 | 75.2% | +4.6% |
| 2014 | 75.7% | +0.7% |
| 2015 | 76.8% | +1.5% |
| 2016 | 77.6% | +1.1% |
| 2017 | 80.5% | +3.7% |
| 2018 | 79.5% | -1.2% |
| 2019 | 82.2% | +3.4% |
| 2020 | 82.1% | -0.1% |
| 2021 | 84.4% | +2.7% |
| 2022 | 84.7% | +0.4% |
| 2023 | 85.1% | +0.5% |
Spain compared with similar countries
- Spain's 85.1% is below the median for high income countries, which is 94.0%, 91% of the median. (39 countries reporting)
- Spain's 85.1% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 96.8%, 88% of the median. (37 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower urban both in Spain changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | -37.6% | 99.7% | 62.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 99.4% | 99.4% | 99.4% | 1 |
| 1980s | 99.7% | 99.7% | 99.7% | 1 |
| 2000s | 66.8% | 62.3% | 69.1% | 6 |
| 2010s | 76.0% | 69.9% | 82.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 84.1% | 82.1% | 85.1% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Spain
More education data for Spain
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 98.71 (2024)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 98.76 (2024)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 344,203 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 37,817 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 570,954 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 538,977 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 3.71 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.83 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.08 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Spain?
- Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Spain was 85.1% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in Spain?
- The highest recorded value was 99.7% in 1981.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in Spain?
- The lowest recorded value was 62.3% in 2004.
- How does Spain rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- Spain ranks 46th out of 97 countries with data for 2023.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or rising or falling in Spain?
- Over the last ten years it is up 13.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Spain 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, urban, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 22 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release