Educational attainment rate, completed primary … primary male in Portugal
Portugal: Educational attainment rate, completed primary … primary male was 97.0% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in Portugal, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Portugal recorded 97.0% for educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in 2024. That is the highest value across all 30 years on record.
The figure is up 0.1% on the previous year and up 3.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in Portugal peaked at 97.0% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 17.0%, in 1981.
Portugal ranks 56th of 135 countries on this measure, 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 male in Portugal, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 50.4% | — |
| 1981 | 17.0% | -66.4% |
| 1991 | 25.0% | +47.6% |
| 1998 | 84.0% | +235.7% |
| 1999 | 84.0% | -0.0% |
| 2000 | 85.2% | +1.4% |
| 2001 | 86.0% | +0.9% |
| 2002 | 86.6% | +0.7% |
| 2003 | 87.3% | +0.8% |
| 2004 | 89.0% | +1.9% |
| 2005 | 89.8% | +0.9% |
| 2006 | 90.1% | +0.3% |
| 2007 | 90.4% | +0.3% |
| 2008 | 91.0% | +0.7% |
| 2009 | 91.8% | +0.8% |
| 2010 | 91.9% | +0.1% |
| 2011 | 91.8% | -0.1% |
| 2012 | 92.8% | +1.1% |
| 2013 | 93.4% | +0.6% |
| 2014 | 93.8% | +0.4% |
| 2015 | 94.1% | +0.4% |
| 2016 | 94.5% | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 95.0% | +0.5% |
| 2018 | 94.9% | -0.0% |
| 2019 | 95.9% | +1.0% |
| 2020 | 96.6% | +0.8% |
| 2021 | 95.2% | -1.5% |
| 2022 | 96.9% | +1.7% |
| 2023 | 96.9% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 97.0% | +0.1% |
Portugal compared with similar countries
- Portugal's 97.0% is below the median for high income countries, which is 99.3%, 98% of the median. (57 countries reporting)
- Portugal's 97.0% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 99.7%, 97% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed primary … primary male 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 | +235.7% | 25.0% | 84.0% |
| 1981 | -66.4% | 50.4% | 17.0% |
| 1991 | +47.6% | 17.0% | 25.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 50.4% | 50.4% | 50.4% | 1 |
| 1980s | 17.0% | 17.0% | 17.0% | 1 |
| 1990s | 64.4% | 25.0% | 84.0% | 3 |
| 2000s | 88.7% | 85.2% | 91.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 93.8% | 91.8% | 95.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 96.5% | 95.2% | 97.0% | 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 97.0% 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 97.0% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher recorded in Portugal?
- The lowest recorded value was 17.0% in 1981.
- How does Portugal rank for educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher?
- Portugal ranks 56th out of 135 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 3.4%. 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, male (%). 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