Educational attainment rate, completed upper … upper rural female in Ireland
Ireland: Educational attainment rate, completed upper … upper rural female was 83.0% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland, 1993–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Ireland recorded 83.0% for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in 2023. That is the highest value across all 26 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.5% on the previous year and up 17.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland peaked at 83.0% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 39.0%, in 1993.
That places Ireland 17th out of 109 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed upper … upper rural female in Ireland, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 39.0% | — |
| 1994 | 39.4% | +1.2% |
| 1995 | 42.0% | +6.5% |
| 1996 | 44.3% | +5.4% |
| 1997 | 44.5% | +0.4% |
| 2003 | 54.8% | +23.3% |
| 2004 | 57.1% | +4.2% |
| 2005 | 58.5% | +2.3% |
| 2006 | 60.2% | +3.0% |
| 2007 | 66.2% | +10.0% |
| 2008 | 63.7% | -3.8% |
| 2009 | 65.6% | +2.9% |
| 2010 | 67.3% | +2.6% |
| 2011 | 67.0% | -0.4% |
| 2012 | 68.1% | +1.7% |
| 2013 | 70.4% | +3.4% |
| 2014 | 72.7% | +3.2% |
| 2015 | 73.6% | +1.3% |
| 2016 | 74.0% | +0.5% |
| 2017 | 72.1% | -2.6% |
| 2018 | 75.3% | +4.5% |
| 2019 | 76.6% | +1.7% |
| 2020 | 78.6% | +2.7% |
| 2021 | 80.2% | +2.0% |
| 2022 | 81.7% | +1.9% |
| 2023 | 83.0% | +1.5% |
Ireland compared with similar countries
- Ireland's 83.0% is above the median for high income countries, which is 70.7%, 1.2× the median. (42 countries reporting)
- Ireland's 83.0% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 75.8%, 1.1× the median. (42 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 41.8% | 39.0% | 44.5% | 5 |
| 2000s | 60.9% | 54.8% | 66.2% | 7 |
| 2010s | 71.7% | 67.0% | 76.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 80.9% | 78.6% | 83.0% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More education data for Ireland
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 99.47 (2022)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 98.19 (2022)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 32,531 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 1,942 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 52,745 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 49,975 (2022)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 456,625 (2022)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 548,873 (2022)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.49 % change on previous year (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland?
- Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland was 83.0% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 83.0% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 39.0% in 1993.
- How does Ireland rank for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or?
- Ireland ranks 17th out of 109 countries with data for 2023.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 17.8%. 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 upper secondary education or higher, population 25+ years, rural, female (%). 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