Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Portugal
Portugal: Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or was 49.1% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Portugal, 1998–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Portugal recorded 49.1% for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in 2023.
The figure is down 0.2% on the previous year and up 14.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Portugal peaked at 52.8% in 2016 and was at its lowest, 17.8%, in 1998.
Portugal ranks 54th of 94 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Portugal, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 17.8% | — |
| 1999 | 18.0% | +0.8% |
| 2000 | 18.7% | +4.0% |
| 2001 | 19.5% | +4.2% |
| 2002 | 20.7% | +6.4% |
| 2003 | 21.9% | +5.6% |
| 2004 | 24.0% | +9.8% |
| 2005 | 25.3% | +5.3% |
| 2006 | 26.7% | +5.5% |
| 2007 | 27.2% | +2.0% |
| 2008 | 29.9% | +9.9% |
| 2009 | 32.6% | +9.0% |
| 2010 | 34.4% | +5.4% |
| 2011 | 38.4% | +11.8% |
| 2012 | 40.4% | +5.1% |
| 2013 | 42.8% | +6.0% |
| 2014 | 44.9% | +5.0% |
| 2015 | 46.4% | +3.3% |
| 2016 | 52.8% | +13.9% |
| 2017 | 36.6% | -30.8% |
| 2018 | 38.7% | +5.9% |
| 2019 | 39.6% | +2.2% |
| 2020 | 41.6% | +5.1% |
| 2021 | 48.3% | +16.3% |
| 2022 | 49.2% | +1.7% |
| 2023 | 49.1% | -0.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 17.9% | 17.8% | 18.0% | 2 |
| 2000s | 24.6% | 18.7% | 32.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 41.5% | 34.4% | 52.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 47.0% | 41.6% | 49.2% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Portugal
More education data for Portugal
- Theoretical duration of upper secondary education (years), annual 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of secondary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), gaps filled 2,022 tertiary education (2023)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), annual growth 0.0495 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 52,131 (2023)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 62.3% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 12.7% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Portugal?
- Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Portugal was 49.1% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in Portugal?
- The highest recorded value was 52.8% in 2016.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in Portugal?
- The lowest recorded value was 17.8% in 1998.
- How does Portugal rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- Portugal ranks 54th out of 94 countries with data for 2023.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or rising or falling in Portugal?
- Over the last ten years it is up 14.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Portugal 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.
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CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release