Educational attainment rate, completed primary … primary both in Portugal
Portugal: Educational attainment rate, completed primary … primary both was 95.6% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in Portugal, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in Portugal stood at 95.6%. That is the highest value across all 30 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and up 6.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in Portugal peaked at 95.6% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 14.0%, in 1981.
That places Portugal 64th out of 137 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 30 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed primary … primary both in Portugal, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 38.4% | — |
| 1981 | 14.0% | -63.5% |
| 1991 | 22.4% | +59.9% |
| 1998 | 77.1% | +243.9% |
| 1999 | 77.3% | +0.2% |
| 2000 | 78.6% | +1.7% |
| 2001 | 79.4% | +1.0% |
| 2002 | 80.5% | +1.4% |
| 2003 | 81.5% | +1.3% |
| 2004 | 83.4% | +2.3% |
| 2005 | 84.2% | +1.0% |
| 2006 | 85.0% | +0.9% |
| 2007 | 85.5% | +0.7% |
| 2008 | 86.3% | +0.9% |
| 2009 | 87.4% | +1.3% |
| 2010 | 87.9% | +0.6% |
| 2011 | 87.6% | -0.4% |
| 2012 | 88.5% | +1.0% |
| 2013 | 89.3% | +0.9% |
| 2014 | 90.0% | +0.8% |
| 2015 | 90.5% | +0.7% |
| 2016 | 91.1% | +0.6% |
| 2017 | 91.7% | +0.7% |
| 2018 | 91.5% | -0.2% |
| 2019 | 92.8% | +1.4% |
| 2020 | 93.9% | +1.2% |
| 2021 | 93.5% | -0.5% |
| 2022 | 95.0% | +1.6% |
| 2023 | 95.1% | +0.2% |
| 2024 | 95.6% | +0.4% |
Portugal compared with similar countries
- Portugal's 95.6% is below the median for high income countries, which is 99.1%, 96% of the median. (57 countries reporting)
- Portugal's 95.6% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 99.6%, 96% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed primary … primary both in Portugal 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | +243.9% | 22.4% | 77.1% |
| 1981 | -63.5% | 38.4% | 14.0% |
| 1991 | +59.9% | 14.0% | 22.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 38.4% | 38.4% | 38.4% | 1 |
| 1980s | 14.0% | 14.0% | 14.0% | 1 |
| 1990s | 58.9% | 22.4% | 77.3% | 3 |
| 2000s | 83.2% | 78.6% | 87.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 90.1% | 87.6% | 92.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 94.6% | 93.5% | 95.6% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Portugal
More education data for Portugal
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 98.73 (2019)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 99.49 (2023)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 82,664 (2018)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 11,380 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 136,282 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 128,743 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 741,752 (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 598,661 (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 1.89 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in Portugal?
- Educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in Portugal was 95.6% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher recorded in Portugal?
- The highest recorded value was 95.6% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher recorded in Portugal?
- The lowest recorded value was 14.0% in 1981.
- How does Portugal rank for educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher?
- Portugal ranks 64th out of 137 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher rising or falling in Portugal?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.2%. 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 primary education or higher, population 25+ years, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 30 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release