Educational attainment rate, completed upper … upper rural both in Ireland
Ireland: Educational attainment rate, completed upper … upper rural both was 78.8% 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 78.8% for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in 2023. That is the highest value across all 26 years on record.
The figure is up 1.7% on the previous year and up 20.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland peaked at 78.8% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 35.1%, in 1993.
That places Ireland 23rd out of 113 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed upper … upper rural both in Ireland, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 35.1% | — |
| 1994 | 35.7% | +1.8% |
| 1995 | 38.1% | +6.7% |
| 1996 | 40.6% | +6.5% |
| 1997 | 40.6% | -0.0% |
| 2003 | 51.6% | +27.2% |
| 2004 | 53.3% | +3.3% |
| 2005 | 55.0% | +3.1% |
| 2006 | 56.7% | +3.1% |
| 2007 | 59.5% | +5.0% |
| 2008 | 59.8% | +0.6% |
| 2009 | 61.7% | +3.2% |
| 2010 | 63.5% | +2.9% |
| 2011 | 61.3% | -3.5% |
| 2012 | 63.0% | +2.9% |
| 2013 | 65.2% | +3.5% |
| 2014 | 67.9% | +4.1% |
| 2015 | 69.0% | +1.6% |
| 2016 | 69.1% | +0.1% |
| 2017 | 66.4% | -3.9% |
| 2018 | 70.4% | +6.0% |
| 2019 | 71.3% | +1.2% |
| 2020 | 73.8% | +3.5% |
| 2021 | 75.3% | +2.1% |
| 2022 | 77.5% | +2.9% |
| 2023 | 78.8% | +1.7% |
Ireland compared with similar countries
- Ireland's 78.8% is above the median for high income countries, which is 73.5%, 1.1× the median. (42 countries reporting)
- Ireland's 78.8% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 77.6%, 1.0× the median. (43 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed upper … upper rural both in Ireland 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | +27.2% | 40.6% | 51.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 38.0% | 35.1% | 40.6% | 5 |
| 2000s | 56.8% | 51.6% | 61.7% | 7 |
| 2010s | 66.7% | 61.3% | 71.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 76.4% | 73.8% | 78.8% | 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 78.8% 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 78.8% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 35.1% in 1993.
- How does Ireland rank for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or?
- Ireland ranks 23rd out of 113 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 20.8%. 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, rural, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release