Ireland ranks higher in education than EU-27

The Central Statistics Office of Ireland (CSO) has released the educational attainment thematic report for the previous year.

According to the report published in December 2023, Ireland has ranked higher than the EU-27 (abbreviation of European Union, which consists of 27 European countries) average in terms of educational attainment.

“Ireland was well above the EU-27 average for third-level education attainment across all age groups,” said Mr Kevin Healy, an officer at the CSO who compiled the thematic report on educational attainment.

Key Statistics

According to the report, the 25 to 34-year-old age group was the highest to attain a third-level or higher education level at 61%, closely followed at 60% by the 35 to 44-year-old age group.

Additionally, it was noted that females across all age groups of the study had higher educational attainment than males. Compared to women with primary education or no education, females who had a third-level education were nearly thrice more likely to get employment.

“I was glad to know that Ireland has a higher percentage of people with third-level education compared to EU-27,” said Mr Michael O’Malley, a resident of Castlebar.

“Ireland has always promoted higher education, and it has some state-of-the-art Universities and faculty, which has led to an increase in the number of foreign students coming to the country every year,” Mr O’Malley added.

In Quarter 2 (Q2) of 2023, the overall attainment of people between 25 and 64 years of age for third-level education was 54%. Meanwhile, people attaining only secondary and only primary education were 28% and 3%, respectively.

Comparing Regions of Ireland

The report said that in Dublin, the number of people between the 25 and 64-year-old age group with a third-level education was 68%, the highest in the country. South-East Ireland had 45% of people with a third level of education or higher.

Speaking about western Ireland, Mr Healy said, “In the west region, only 2% of people aged 25-64 had a primary level education or no formal education. This is lower than all other regions in Q2 2023.

Although West Ireland had the fewest people who only had a primary level of education or lower, the number of people with a third level or more in educational attainment was 45% in the western Irish counties.

Mrs Deirdre O’Brien, a resident of Tuam, said, “When you have so many options in terms of education, people are more likely to study for longer and pursue a career in the field of their liking.”