Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper both in Australia
Australia: Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper both was 79.9% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Australia, 1971–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Australia is 79.9%, measured in 2024.
That represents a change of up 1.2% on the previous year and up 8.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Australia peaked at 81.7% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 21.5%, in 1971.
Australia ranks 38th of 142 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper both in Australia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 21.5% | — |
| 2001 | 59.3% | +175.9% |
| 2002 | 60.5% | +1.9% |
| 2003 | 61.2% | +1.2% |
| 2004 | 64.1% | +4.8% |
| 2005 | 65.0% | +1.4% |
| 2006 | 66.7% | +2.6% |
| 2007 | 68.2% | +2.2% |
| 2008 | 70.1% | +2.8% |
| 2009 | 70.9% | +1.1% |
| 2010 | 72.8% | +2.7% |
| 2011 | 74.1% | +1.7% |
| 2012 | 76.5% | +3.3% |
| 2013 | 72.0% | -5.8% |
| 2014 | 73.6% | +2.2% |
| 2015 | 75.5% | +2.7% |
| 2016 | 76.4% | +1.2% |
| 2017 | 77.3% | +1.1% |
| 2018 | 78.3% | +1.4% |
| 2019 | 79.0% | +0.9% |
| 2020 | 80.1% | +1.3% |
| 2021 | 81.1% | +1.3% |
| 2022 | 81.7% | +0.7% |
| 2023 | 79.0% | -3.3% |
| 2024 | 79.9% | +1.2% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's 79.9% is above the median for high income countries, which is 79.5%, 1.0× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Australia's 79.9% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 57.7%, 1.4× the median. (20 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper both in Australia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | +175.9% | 21.5% | 59.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 21.5% | 21.5% | 21.5% | 1 |
| 2000s | 65.1% | 59.3% | 70.9% | 9 |
| 2010s | 75.6% | 72.0% | 79.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 80.3% | 79.0% | 81.7% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More education data for Australia
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 99.9 (2023)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 99.88 (2024)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 104,110 (1992)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 316,638 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 292,593 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.65 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.27 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 0.4362 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Australia?
- Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Australia was 79.9% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 81.7% in 2022.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 21.5% in 1971.
- How does Australia rank for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or?
- Australia ranks 38th out of 142 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia 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, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release