Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Ireland
Ireland: Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education was 45.1% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Ireland, 1992–2022
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Ireland recorded 45.1% for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in 2022. That is the highest value across all 27 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 3.5% on the previous year and up 35.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Ireland peaked at 45.1% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 15.9%, in 1992.
That places Ireland 11th out of 129 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 27 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 18.3% | 15.9% | 20.8% | 6 |
| 2000s | 26.1% | 21.7% | 30.5% | 8 |
| 2010s | 34.8% | 29.0% | 38.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 43.3% | 41.2% | 45.1% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
- 8 Luxembourg 46.8% compare
- 9 Switzerland 46.1% compare
- 10 Canada 45.4% compare
- 12 Saudi Arabia 44.6% compare
- 13 Australia 43.8% compare
- 14 Ukraine 42.9% compare
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 short-cycle tertiary education in Ireland?
- Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Ireland was 45.1% in 2022, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 45.1% in 2022.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 15.9% in 1992.
- How does Ireland rank for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education?
- Ireland ranks 11th out of 129 countries with data for 2022.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 35.6%. 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 short-cycle tertiary education or higher, population 25+ years, male (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 27 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release