Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in Iceland
Iceland: Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates was 98.2% in 2023. ▬ Flat
Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in Iceland, 1971–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Iceland recorded 98.2% for primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 53 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.3% on the previous year and down 0.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in Iceland peaked at 100.1% in 1996 and was at its lowest, 98.2%, in 2023.
That places Iceland 131st out of 217 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 99.2% | 98.9% | 99.8% | 9 |
| 1980s | 99.5% | 99.4% | 99.7% | 10 |
| 1990s | 99.4% | 98.9% | 100.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 98.9% | 98.4% | 99.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 98.8% | 98.7% | 99.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 98.5% | 98.2% | 98.6% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More education data for Iceland
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 66.5% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 17.5% (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 13 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 98.2% (2023)
- Primary education, teachers 3,568 (2023)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.52 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 98.2% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in Iceland?
- Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in Iceland was 98.2% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 100.1% in 1996.
- What is the lowest primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 98.2% in 2023.
- How does Iceland rank for primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates?
- Iceland ranks 131st out of 217 countries with data for 2023.
- Is primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this Iceland data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 53 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of children of any age group who are enrolled in primary education, expressed as a percentage of the total population of the official primary school age.