Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower rural male in Ireland
Ireland: Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower rural male was 89.0% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Ireland, 2006–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Ireland recorded 89.0% for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in 2023. That is the highest value across all 18 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.8% on the previous year and up 14.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Ireland peaked at 89.0% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 72.4%, in 2006.
Ireland ranks 34th 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 male in Ireland, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 72.4% | — |
| 2007 | 75.4% | +4.1% |
| 2008 | 75.3% | -0.1% |
| 2009 | 76.3% | +1.3% |
| 2010 | 77.4% | +1.5% |
| 2011 | 77.9% | +0.7% |
| 2012 | 76.5% | -1.8% |
| 2013 | 78.1% | +2.0% |
| 2014 | 81.9% | +5.0% |
| 2015 | 82.5% | +0.7% |
| 2016 | 82.7% | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 81.5% | -1.5% |
| 2018 | 83.6% | +2.7% |
| 2019 | 83.2% | -0.5% |
| 2020 | 85.0% | +2.2% |
| 2021 | 86.6% | +1.9% |
| 2022 | 87.5% | +1.0% |
| 2023 | 89.0% | +1.8% |
Ireland compared with similar countries
- Ireland's 89.0% is below the median for high income countries, which is 92.3%, 96% of the median. (39 countries reporting)
- Ireland's 89.0% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 94.6%, 94% of the median. (37 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 74.8% | 72.4% | 76.3% | 4 |
| 2010s | 80.5% | 76.5% | 83.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 87.0% | 85.0% | 89.0% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More education data for Ireland
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 99.47 (2022)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 98.19 (2022)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 32,531 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 1,942 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 52,745 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 49,975 (2022)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 456,625 (2022)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 548,873 (2022)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.49 % change on previous year (2022)
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 89.0% in 2023, 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 89.0% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 72.4% in 2006.
- How does Ireland rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- Ireland ranks 34th out of 94 countries with data for 2023.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 14.1%. 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, rural, male (%). 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