Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper both in Canada
Canada: Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper both was 89.9% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Canada, 1986–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Canada is 89.9%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 29 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.3% on the previous year and up 6.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Canada peaked at 89.9% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 44.1%, in 1986.
Canada ranks 13th of 142 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 29 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper both in Canada, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 44.1% | — |
| 1991 | 49.4% | +11.8% |
| 1997 | 71.7% | +45.3% |
| 1998 | 72.5% | +1.1% |
| 1999 | 73.3% | +1.2% |
| 2000 | 74.5% | +1.6% |
| 2001 | 67.7% | -9.0% |
| 2003 | 77.7% | +14.7% |
| 2004 | 78.2% | +0.6% |
| 2005 | 79.2% | +1.3% |
| 2006 | 79.4% | +0.2% |
| 2007 | 80.6% | +1.5% |
| 2008 | 81.3% | +0.8% |
| 2009 | 81.8% | +0.7% |
| 2010 | 82.6% | +1.0% |
| 2011 | 82.7% | +0.1% |
| 2012 | 83.6% | +1.0% |
| 2013 | 84.3% | +0.9% |
| 2014 | 84.8% | +0.6% |
| 2015 | 85.3% | +0.6% |
| 2016 | 84.5% | -1.0% |
| 2017 | 86.5% | +2.4% |
| 2018 | 87.2% | +0.8% |
| 2019 | 87.4% | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 88.1% | +0.8% |
| 2021 | 86.5% | -1.8% |
| 2022 | 89.2% | +3.1% |
| 2023 | 89.6% | +0.4% |
| 2024 | 89.9% | +0.3% |
Canada compared with similar countries
- Canada's 89.9% is above the median for high income countries, which is 79.5%, 1.1× the median. (58 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper both in Canada 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | +45.3% | 49.4% | 71.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 44.1% | 44.1% | 44.1% | 1 |
| 1990s | 66.7% | 49.4% | 73.3% | 4 |
| 2000s | 77.8% | 67.7% | 81.8% | 9 |
| 2010s | 84.9% | 82.6% | 87.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 88.7% | 86.5% | 89.9% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Canada
More education data for Canada
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 95.11 (2023)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 95.01 (2023)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 133,275 (1996)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 0 (2011)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 291,075 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 273,465 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.70 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.43 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 1.83 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Canada?
- Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Canada was 89.9% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Canada?
- The highest recorded value was 89.9% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Canada?
- The lowest recorded value was 44.1% in 1986.
- How does Canada rank for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or?
- Canada ranks 13th out of 142 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or rising or falling in Canada?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Canada 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 — 29 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release