Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland
Ireland: Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or was 92.1% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland, 2012–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Ireland recorded 92.1% for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.1% on the previous year and up 14.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland peaked at 92.2% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 79.5%, in 2012.
Ireland ranks 4th of 38 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 12 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 79.5% | — |
| 2013 | 80.6% | +1.4% |
| 2014 | 87.6% | +8.7% |
| 2015 | 87.8% | +0.2% |
| 2016 | 88.1% | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 89.2% | +1.2% |
| 2018 | 89.3% | +0.1% |
| 2019 | 89.1% | -0.2% |
| 2020 | 90.5% | +1.5% |
| 2021 | 91.2% | +0.8% |
| 2022 | 92.2% | +1.2% |
| 2023 | 92.1% | -0.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 86.4% | 79.5% | 89.3% | 8 |
| 2020s | 91.5% | 90.5% | 92.2% | 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 92.1% 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 92.2% in 2022.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 79.5% in 2012.
- How does Ireland rank for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or?
- Ireland ranks 4th out of 38 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 14.3%. 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 upper secondary education or higher, population 25+ years, immigrant background, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release