Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland
Ireland: Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or was 83.0% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland, 1991–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in Ireland is 83.0%, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 27 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 3.3% 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 83.0% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 37.1%, in 1992.
That places Ireland 24th out of 142 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 27 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 41.1% | 37.1% | 44.4% | 7 |
| 2000s | 61.8% | 55.0% | 66.5% | 6 |
| 2010s | 71.2% | 66.4% | 75.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 80.1% | 77.6% | 83.0% | 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 83.0% 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 83.0% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 37.1% in 1992.
- How does Ireland rank for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or?
- Ireland ranks 24th out of 142 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, 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