Official entrance age to pre-primary education in Ireland
Ireland: Official entrance age to pre-primary education was 3 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Latest (2025)
3
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
17th
of 73 countries
All-time high
4
in 1970
All-time low
3
in 2017
Years of data
56
1970–2025
Official entrance age to pre-primary education in Ireland, 1970–2025
Source: UNICEF.
Analysis
Ireland recorded 3 for official entrance age to pre-primary education in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 56 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 25.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, official entrance age to pre-primary education in Ireland peaked at 4 in 1970 and was at its lowest, 3, in 2017.
Ireland ranks 17th of 73 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 56 years of available data.
Official entrance age to pre-primary education in Ireland, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 4 | — |
| 1971 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 3 | -25.0% |
| 2018 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 3 | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1980s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1990s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 2000s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.7 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| 2020s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
- 17 Bahrain 3 compare
- 17 Romania 3 compare
- 17 Finland 3 compare
- 17 Latvia 3 compare
- 17 Kyrgyzstan 3 compare
- 17 Tajikistan 3 compare
- 17 Austria 3 compare
- 17 Norway 3 compare
- 17 Uzbekistan 3 compare
- 17 Monaco 3 compare
- 17 Iceland 3 compare
- 17 Slovenia 3 compare
- 17 Belarus 3 compare
- 17 Hungary 3 compare
- 17 Turkey 3 compare
- 17 San Marino 3 compare
- 17 Russia 3 compare
- 17 Albania 3 compare
- 17 Poland 3 compare
- 17 United Kingdom 3 compare
- 17 Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 compare
- 17 Serbia 3 compare
- 17 Portugal 3 compare
- 17 Belgium 3 compare
- 17 Tunisia 3 compare
- 17 Spain 3 compare
- 17 Italy 3 compare
- 17 Moldova 3 compare
- 17 France 3 compare
- 17 North Macedonia 3 compare
- 17 Malta 3 compare
- 17 Andorra 3 compare
- 17 Sweden 3 compare
- 17 Lithuania 3 compare
- 17 Cyprus 3 compare
- 17 Saudi Arabia 3 compare
- 17 Germany 3 compare
- 17 Lebanon 3 compare
- 17 Turkmenistan 3 compare
- 17 Yemen 3 compare
- 17 Qatar 3 compare
- 17 Kazakhstan 3 compare
- 17 Bulgaria 3 compare
- 17 Estonia 3 compare
- 17 Montenegro 3 compare
- 17 Armenia 3 compare
- 17 Netherlands 3 compare
- 17 Azerbaijan 3 compare
- 17 Syria 3 compare
- 17 Luxembourg 3 compare
- 17 Czechia 3 compare
- 17 Slovakia 3 compare
- 17 Denmark 3 compare
- 17 Croatia 3 compare
- 17 Ukraine 3 compare
More education data for Ireland
- Theoretical duration of upper secondary education (years), annual 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of secondary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), gaps filled 2,021 tertiary education (2022)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), annual growth 0.0495 % change on previous year (2022)
- 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)
Frequently asked questions
- What is official entrance age to pre-primary education in Ireland?
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education in Ireland was 3 in 2025, according to UNICEF.
- What is the highest official entrance age to pre-primary education recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 4 in 1970.
- What is the lowest official entrance age to pre-primary education recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 3 in 2017.
- How does Ireland rank for official entrance age to pre-primary education?
- Ireland ranks 17th out of 73 countries with data for 2025.
- Is official entrance age to pre-primary education rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 25.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ireland data come from?
- The figures come from UNICEF, published as part of Official entrance age to pre-primary education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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