Educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in Portugal
Portugal: Educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher was 91.1% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in Portugal, 1998–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Portugal recorded 91.1% for educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in 2023. That is the highest value across all 26 years on record.
The figure is up 0.1% on the previous year and up 5.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in Portugal peaked at 91.1% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 72.1%, in 1998.
That places Portugal 49th out of 101 countries with data for 2023, putting it 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 primary education or higher in Portugal, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 72.1% | — |
| 1999 | 72.4% | +0.4% |
| 2000 | 73.5% | +1.4% |
| 2001 | 74.7% | +1.7% |
| 2002 | 76.2% | +2.0% |
| 2003 | 77.1% | +1.2% |
| 2004 | 79.1% | +2.7% |
| 2005 | 80.2% | +1.3% |
| 2006 | 80.8% | +0.8% |
| 2007 | 81.5% | +0.8% |
| 2008 | 82.9% | +1.7% |
| 2009 | 84.4% | +1.9% |
| 2010 | 84.9% | +0.6% |
| 2011 | 84.4% | -0.6% |
| 2012 | 85.3% | +1.1% |
| 2013 | 86.4% | +1.3% |
| 2014 | 87.5% | +1.2% |
| 2015 | 88.4% | +1.0% |
| 2016 | 90.6% | +2.5% |
| 2017 | 83.7% | -7.6% |
| 2018 | 84.8% | +1.4% |
| 2019 | 85.8% | +1.1% |
| 2020 | 87.8% | +2.4% |
| 2021 | 90.7% | +3.2% |
| 2022 | 91.0% | +0.4% |
| 2023 | 91.1% | +0.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 72.3% | 72.1% | 72.4% | 2 |
| 2000s | 79.0% | 73.5% | 84.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 86.2% | 83.7% | 90.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 90.2% | 87.8% | 91.1% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Portugal
More education data for Portugal
- 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)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
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 91.1% in 2023, 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 91.1% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher recorded in Portugal?
- The lowest recorded value was 72.1% in 1998.
- How does Portugal rank for educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher?
- Portugal ranks 49th out of 101 countries with data for 2023.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher rising or falling in Portugal?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.4%. 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, rural, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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