Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland
Ireland: Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or was 80.8% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland, 1991–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland is 80.8%, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 29 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.9% on the previous year and up 20.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland peaked at 80.8% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 34.9%, in 1992.
Ireland ranks 38th of 140 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 29 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 38.9% | 34.9% | 42.1% | 7 |
| 2000s | 58.4% | 51.8% | 66.2% | 8 |
| 2010s | 68.9% | 63.9% | 73.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 78.0% | 75.4% | 80.8% | 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 80.8% 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 80.8% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 34.9% in 1992.
- How does Ireland rank for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or?
- Ireland ranks 38th out of 140 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 20.4%. 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, male (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 29 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release