Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower rural both in France
France: Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower rural both was 90.4% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in France, 2004–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
France recorded 90.4% for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in 2023. That is the highest value across all 18 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.6% on the previous year and up 13.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in France peaked at 90.4% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 70.0%, in 2004.
France ranks 31st of 94 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 18 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower rural both in France, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 70.0% | — |
| 2005 | 72.0% | +2.8% |
| 2007 | 74.2% | +3.1% |
| 2008 | 75.7% | +2.0% |
| 2009 | 75.9% | +0.2% |
| 2010 | 76.9% | +1.3% |
| 2011 | 77.9% | +1.3% |
| 2012 | 78.9% | +1.3% |
| 2013 | 79.6% | +0.9% |
| 2014 | 80.8% | +1.4% |
| 2015 | 82.4% | +2.1% |
| 2016 | 83.6% | +1.4% |
| 2017 | 84.2% | +0.7% |
| 2018 | 80.5% | -4.4% |
| 2019 | 85.2% | +5.9% |
| 2020 | 82.1% | -3.7% |
| 2022 | 89.8% | +9.5% |
| 2023 | 90.4% | +0.6% |
France compared with similar countries
- France's 90.4% is below the median for high income countries, which is 91.0%, 99% of the median. (39 countries reporting)
- France's 90.4% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 93.6%, 97% of the median. (37 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 73.6% | 70.0% | 75.9% | 5 |
| 2010s | 81.0% | 76.9% | 85.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 87.4% | 82.1% | 90.4% | 3 |
Countries ranked near France
More education data for France
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 99.97 (2016)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 99.8 (2024)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 457,956 (2019)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 43,533 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 1.19 million (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 1.14 million (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 6.27 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 4.13 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.27 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in France?
- Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in France was 90.4% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in France?
- The highest recorded value was 90.4% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in France?
- The lowest recorded value was 70.0% in 2004.
- How does France rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- France ranks 31st out of 94 countries with data for 2023.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or rising or falling in France?
- Over the last ten years it is up 13.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this France 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, rural, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 18 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release