Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper female in Spain
Spain: Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper female was 55.8% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Spain, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Spain recorded 55.8% for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in 2024.
That represents a change of down 1.0% on the previous year and up 20.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Spain peaked at 56.4% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 4.0%, in 1970.
That places Spain 70th out of 141 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper female in Spain, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 4.0% | — |
| 1981 | 9.6% | +136.6% |
| 1986 | 12.4% | +29.8% |
| 1992 | 17.3% | +39.7% |
| 1993 | 18.6% | +7.1% |
| 1994 | 20.3% | +9.2% |
| 1995 | 21.9% | +8.0% |
| 1996 | 24.2% | +10.6% |
| 1997 | 25.4% | +5.0% |
| 1998 | 25.8% | +1.5% |
| 1999 | 27.3% | +5.7% |
| 2000 | 28.9% | +6.0% |
| 2001 | 30.5% | +5.5% |
| 2002 | 32.6% | +6.8% |
| 2003 | 33.6% | +3.3% |
| 2004 | 35.4% | +5.1% |
| 2005 | 38.6% | +9.0% |
| 2006 | 39.7% | +3.1% |
| 2007 | 40.6% | +2.1% |
| 2008 | 41.3% | +1.8% |
| 2009 | 42.1% | +1.8% |
| 2010 | 42.9% | +2.0% |
| 2011 | 44.2% | +3.1% |
| 2012 | 44.8% | +1.3% |
| 2013 | 46.4% | +3.6% |
| 2014 | 46.5% | +0.2% |
| 2015 | 47.3% | +1.8% |
| 2016 | 48.4% | +2.3% |
| 2017 | 51.1% | +5.6% |
| 2018 | 50.4% | -1.4% |
| 2019 | 53.1% | +5.4% |
| 2020 | 53.4% | +0.4% |
| 2021 | 55.5% | +4.0% |
| 2022 | 55.4% | -0.2% |
| 2023 | 56.4% | +1.9% |
| 2024 | 55.8% | -1.0% |
Spain compared with similar countries
- Spain's 55.8% is below the median for high income countries, which is 78.7%, 71% of the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Spain's 55.8% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 79.0%, 71% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper female in Spain changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | +136.6% | 4.0% | 9.6% |
| 1992 | +39.7% | 12.4% | 17.3% |
| 1986 | +29.8% | 9.6% | 12.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 4.0% | 4.0% | 4.0% | 1 |
| 1980s | 11.0% | 9.6% | 12.4% | 2 |
| 1990s | 22.6% | 17.3% | 27.3% | 8 |
| 2000s | 36.3% | 28.9% | 42.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 47.5% | 42.9% | 53.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 55.3% | 53.4% | 56.4% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Spain
More education data for Spain
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 98.71 (2024)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 98.76 (2024)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 344,203 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 37,817 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 570,954 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 538,977 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 3.71 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.83 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.08 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Spain?
- Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Spain was 55.8% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Spain?
- The highest recorded value was 56.4% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Spain?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.0% in 1970.
- How does Spain rank for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or?
- Spain ranks 70th out of 141 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or rising or falling in Spain?
- Over the last ten years it is up 20.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Spain 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, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 36 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release