Educational attainment rate, completed upper … upper urban both in Ireland
Ireland: Educational attainment rate, completed upper … upper urban both was 86.2% 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 86.2% for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in 2023. That is the highest value across all 27 years on record.
That represents a change of up 4.5% on the previous year and up 18.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland peaked at 86.2% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 45.7%, in 1993.
Ireland ranks 19th of 108 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 27 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed upper … upper urban both in Ireland, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 45.7% | — |
| 1994 | 46.6% | +1.8% |
| 1995 | 47.7% | +2.4% |
| 1996 | 50.8% | +6.6% |
| 1997 | 49.1% | -3.4% |
| 2002 | 58.6% | +19.2% |
| 2003 | 61.0% | +4.1% |
| 2004 | 61.7% | +1.2% |
| 2005 | 63.1% | +2.4% |
| 2006 | 64.5% | +2.1% |
| 2007 | 66.5% | +3.1% |
| 2008 | 68.6% | +3.2% |
| 2009 | 68.5% | -0.1% |
| 2010 | 70.0% | +2.1% |
| 2011 | 69.5% | -0.7% |
| 2012 | 71.6% | +3.0% |
| 2013 | 72.7% | +1.5% |
| 2014 | 77.1% | +6.1% |
| 2015 | 76.9% | -0.2% |
| 2016 | 77.2% | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 73.4% | -4.9% |
| 2018 | 78.7% | +7.2% |
| 2019 | 79.3% | +0.8% |
| 2020 | 80.4% | +1.4% |
| 2021 | 82.9% | +3.1% |
| 2022 | 82.4% | -0.6% |
| 2023 | 86.2% | +4.5% |
Ireland compared with similar countries
- Ireland's 86.2% is above the median for high income countries, which is 81.8%, 1.1× the median. (42 countries reporting)
- Ireland's 86.2% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 83.5%, 1.0× the median. (43 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 48.0% | 45.7% | 50.8% | 5 |
| 2000s | 64.1% | 58.6% | 68.6% | 8 |
| 2010s | 74.6% | 69.5% | 79.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 83.0% | 80.4% | 86.2% | 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 86.2% 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 86.2% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 45.7% in 1993.
- How does Ireland rank for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or?
- Ireland ranks 19th out of 108 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 18.6%. 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, urban, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 27 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release