Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland
Ireland: Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or was 86.6% 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 86.6% for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in 2023. That is the highest value across all 26 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 5.3% on the previous year and up 19.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland peaked at 86.6% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 45.1%, in 1993.
Ireland ranks 17th of 108 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 45.1% | — |
| 1994 | 46.1% | +2.2% |
| 1995 | 47.3% | +2.5% |
| 1996 | 50.1% | +5.9% |
| 1997 | 48.7% | -2.8% |
| 2003 | 59.3% | +21.7% |
| 2004 | 60.1% | +1.4% |
| 2005 | 61.8% | +2.8% |
| 2006 | 63.5% | +2.8% |
| 2007 | 66.7% | +5.0% |
| 2008 | 67.7% | +1.5% |
| 2009 | 67.6% | -0.1% |
| 2010 | 68.8% | +1.6% |
| 2011 | 69.8% | +1.5% |
| 2012 | 71.4% | +2.2% |
| 2013 | 72.5% | +1.5% |
| 2014 | 77.1% | +6.3% |
| 2015 | 76.6% | -0.6% |
| 2016 | 77.1% | +0.7% |
| 2017 | 74.1% | -4.0% |
| 2018 | 79.5% | +7.4% |
| 2019 | 79.2% | -0.3% |
| 2020 | 80.4% | +1.4% |
| 2021 | 83.4% | +3.8% |
| 2022 | 82.3% | -1.3% |
| 2023 | 86.6% | +5.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 47.5% | 45.1% | 50.1% | 5 |
| 2000s | 63.8% | 59.3% | 67.7% | 7 |
| 2010s | 74.6% | 68.8% | 79.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 83.2% | 80.4% | 86.6% | 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 86.6% 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 86.6% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 45.1% in 1993.
- How does Ireland rank for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or?
- Ireland ranks 17th 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 19.6%. 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, female (%). 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