Share of the population with at least some formal education in Ireland
Ireland: Share of the population with at least some formal education was 99.6% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of the population with at least some formal education in Ireland, 1870–2020
Source: Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of the population with at least some formal education in Ireland is 99.6%, measured in 2020. That is the highest value across all 31 years on record.
The figure is up 0.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population with at least some formal education in Ireland peaked at 99.6% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 18.1%, in 1870.
Ireland ranks 12th of 111 regions on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 31 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 19.4% | 18.1% | 20.7% | 2 |
| 1880s | 24.8% | 23.4% | 26.2% | 2 |
| 1890s | 32.2% | 30.1% | 34.4% | 2 |
| 1900s | 40.9% | 38.5% | 43.3% | 2 |
| 1910s | 50.1% | 47.6% | 52.6% | 2 |
| 1920s | 60.2% | 57.6% | 62.7% | 2 |
| 1930s | 71.8% | 67.9% | 75.6% | 2 |
| 1940s | 87.2% | 84.2% | 90.3% | 2 |
| 1950s | 95.2% | 94.8% | 95.5% | 2 |
| 1960s | 96.3% | 96.0% | 96.6% | 2 |
| 1970s | 96.7% | 96.7% | 96.7% | 2 |
| 1980s | 98.2% | 98.1% | 98.3% | 2 |
| 1990s | 97.1% | 95.9% | 98.3% | 2 |
| 2000s | 97.6% | 95.8% | 99.4% | 2 |
| 2010s | 99.5% | 99.4% | 99.5% | 2 |
| 2020s | 99.6% | 99.6% | 99.6% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More education data for Ireland
- Duration of pre-primary education 2 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (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)
- School enrollment, primary 96.5% (2022)
- Primary education, teachers 42,162 (2023)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.6 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 97.6% (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population with at least some formal education in Ireland?
- Share of the population with at least some formal education in Ireland was 99.6% in 2020, according to Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 99.6% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 18.1% in 1870.
- How does Ireland rank for share of the population with at least some formal education?
- Ireland ranks 12th out of 111 regions with data for 2020.
- Is share of the population with at least some formal education rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Ireland data come from?
- The figures come from Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of the population with at least some formal education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Based on the population aged 15 years and older.