Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Ireland
Ireland: Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education was 36.3% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Ireland, 1993–2022
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Ireland is 36.3%, measured in 2022. That is the highest value across all 26 years on record.
That represents a change of up 9.3% on the previous year and up 48.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Ireland peaked at 36.3% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 13.5%, in 1993.
Ireland ranks 8th of 95 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 14.9% | 13.5% | 16.8% | 5 |
| 2000s | 21.3% | 17.1% | 25.9% | 8 |
| 2010s | 26.1% | 21.0% | 28.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 33.5% | 31.2% | 36.3% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
- 5 Luxembourg 40.7% compare
- 6 Switzerland 39.8% compare
- 7 Korea 39.2% compare
- 9 United States of America 35.7% compare
- 10 Belgium 32.7% compare
- 11 Netherlands 30.3% 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 36.3% 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 36.3% in 2022.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 13.5% in 1993.
- How does Ireland rank for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education?
- Ireland ranks 8th out of 95 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 48.2%. 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, rural, male (%). 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