Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland
Ireland: Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or was 77.2% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland, 2006–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2023, educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland stood at 77.2%. That is the highest value across all 18 years on record.
That represents a change of up 3.8% on the previous year and up 19.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland peaked at 77.2% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 54.4%, in 2006.
That places Ireland 30th out of 43 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 18 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 54.4% | — |
| 2007 | 55.8% | +2.6% |
| 2008 | 56.7% | +1.7% |
| 2009 | 58.5% | +3.1% |
| 2010 | 60.9% | +4.1% |
| 2011 | 61.9% | +1.7% |
| 2012 | 62.8% | +1.4% |
| 2013 | 64.5% | +2.7% |
| 2014 | 64.8% | +0.5% |
| 2015 | 65.9% | +1.7% |
| 2016 | 65.3% | -0.9% |
| 2017 | 68.2% | +4.4% |
| 2018 | 68.0% | -0.3% |
| 2019 | 69.0% | +1.5% |
| 2020 | 70.7% | +2.6% |
| 2021 | 73.1% | +3.4% |
| 2022 | 74.4% | +1.8% |
| 2023 | 77.2% | +3.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 56.4% | 54.4% | 58.5% | 4 |
| 2010s | 65.1% | 60.9% | 69.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 73.9% | 70.7% | 77.2% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
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 upper secondary education or in Ireland?
- Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland was 77.2% 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 77.2% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 54.4% in 2006.
- How does Ireland rank for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or?
- Ireland ranks 30th out of 43 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 19.8%. 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, non-immigrant background, male (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 18 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release