Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Ireland
Ireland: Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or was 92.5% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Ireland, 1971–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2023, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Ireland stood at 92.5%. That is the highest value across all 21 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.7% on the previous year and up 10.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Ireland peaked at 92.5% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 32.1%, in 1971.
Ireland ranks 36th of 134 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 21 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Ireland, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 32.1% | — |
| 1981 | 47.6% | +48.6% |
| 1991 | 61.5% | +29.0% |
| 2006 | 83.9% | +36.4% |
| 2007 | 81.9% | -2.4% |
| 2008 | 79.1% | -3.4% |
| 2009 | 79.9% | +1.0% |
| 2010 | 81.1% | +1.5% |
| 2011 | 83.5% | +3.0% |
| 2012 | 82.8% | -0.8% |
| 2013 | 84.0% | +1.4% |
| 2014 | 86.9% | +3.4% |
| 2015 | 87.1% | +0.3% |
| 2016 | 87.4% | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 86.2% | -1.4% |
| 2018 | 88.2% | +2.4% |
| 2019 | 88.3% | +0.1% |
| 2020 | 89.3% | +1.1% |
| 2021 | 90.7% | +1.6% |
| 2022 | 90.9% | +0.2% |
| 2023 | 92.5% | +1.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 32.1% | 32.1% | 32.1% | 1 |
| 1980s | 47.6% | 47.6% | 47.6% | 1 |
| 1990s | 61.5% | 61.5% | 61.5% | 1 |
| 2000s | 81.2% | 79.1% | 83.9% | 4 |
| 2010s | 85.5% | 81.1% | 88.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 90.8% | 89.3% | 92.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More education data for Ireland
- 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)
- Primary secondary enrollment completion rates, gaps filled 96.48 (2022)
- School enrollment, primary 96.5% (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 92.5% 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 92.5% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 32.1% in 1971.
- How does Ireland rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- Ireland ranks 36th out of 134 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 10.1%. 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, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 21 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release