Government expenditure on lower secondary education as a percentage in Ireland
Ireland: Government expenditure on lower secondary education as a percentage was 0.5% in 2021. ▼ Falling
Government expenditure on lower secondary education as a percentage in Ireland, 1998–2021
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2021, government expenditure on lower secondary education as a percentage in Ireland stood at 0.5%. That is the lowest value across all 24 years on record.
That represents a change of down 8.1% on the previous year and down 54.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government expenditure on lower secondary education as a percentage in Ireland peaked at 1.0% in 2009 and was at its lowest, 0.5%, in 2021.
Ireland ranks 93rd of 116 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.
Government expenditure on lower secondary education as a percentage in Ireland, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 0.9% | — |
| 1999 | 0.8% | -6.0% |
| 2000 | 0.7% | -7.2% |
| 2001 | 0.7% | +0.6% |
| 2002 | 0.7% | -2.3% |
| 2003 | 0.8% | +4.1% |
| 2004 | 0.8% | +1.8% |
| 2005 | 0.8% | +0.5% |
| 2006 | 0.8% | +2.2% |
| 2007 | 0.8% | -0.9% |
| 2008 | 0.9% | +16.2% |
| 2009 | 1.0% | +12.8% |
| 2010 | 1.0% | -0.5% |
| 2011 | 1.0% | -3.1% |
| 2012 | 1.0% | -3.5% |
| 2013 | 0.9% | -9.0% |
| 2014 | 0.8% | -11.1% |
| 2015 | 0.6% | -22.7% |
| 2016 | 0.6% | +4.6% |
| 2017 | 0.5% | -26.9% |
| 2018 | 0.5% | +3.5% |
| 2019 | 0.5% | -2.2% |
| 2020 | 0.5% | +4.9% |
| 2021 | 0.5% | -8.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 2 |
| 2000s | 0.8% | 0.7% | 1.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.7% | 0.5% | 1.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More education data for Ireland
- 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)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2022)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1053 units per person (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government expenditure on lower secondary education as a percentage in Ireland?
- Government expenditure on lower secondary education as a percentage in Ireland was 0.5% in 2021, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest government expenditure on lower secondary education as a percentage recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 1.0% in 2009.
- What is the lowest government expenditure on lower secondary education as a percentage recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.5% in 2021.
- How does Ireland rank for government expenditure on lower secondary education as a percentage?
- Ireland ranks 93rd out of 116 countries with data for 2021.
- Is government expenditure on lower secondary education as a percentage rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 54.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ireland data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Government expenditure on lower secondary education as a percentage of GDP (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release