Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Ireland
Ireland: Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education was 54.3% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Ireland, 1992–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Ireland recorded 54.3% for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in 2023. That is the highest value across all 28 years on record.
The figure is up 7.4% on the previous year and up 36.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Ireland peaked at 54.3% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 13.7%, in 1992.
Ireland ranks 4th of 128 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 28 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 16.2% | 13.7% | 18.8% | 6 |
| 2000s | 28.1% | 22.2% | 34.4% | 8 |
| 2010s | 40.3% | 34.5% | 44.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 50.2% | 46.6% | 54.3% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
- 1 Russia 66.3% compare
- 2 United Arab Emirates 59.7% compare
- 3 Uzbekistan 57.9% compare
- 5 Canada 52.9% compare
- 6 United States 52.0% compare
- 7 Ukraine 51.7% 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 54.3% in 2023, 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 54.3% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 13.7% in 1992.
- How does Ireland rank for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education?
- Ireland ranks 4th out of 128 countries with data for 2023.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 36.3%. 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, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 28 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release