This publication is part of a series of results from Census 2022. More thematic publications will be published as outlined in the Census 2022 Publication Schedule.
Looking at a 31-year period from 1991 to 2022, the educational attainment of people aged 15 years and over improved steadily.
There was a decrease in the number of people who were educated to primary level only and an increase in the number of those with higher levels of education.
The greatest gains were in the number of people with a third level qualification, rising from 14% of the population aged 15 and over in 1991 to 48% in 2022.
The opposite trend occurred among those who had no formal education or primary education only.
In 1991, 34% of those aged 15 years and over were not educated higher than primary school level while the equivalent percentage in 2022 was only 11%.
| Third level | Upper secondary | Lower secondary | No formal/Primary education | |
| 1991 | 13.6 | 30.7 | 21.3 | 34.4 |
| 1996 | 19.7 | 29.9 | 20.9 | 29.5 |
| 2002 | 26 | 29.1 | 22.7 | 22.2 |
| 2006 | 30.1 | 28 | 21.9 | 19.9 |
| 2011 | 30.6 | 36 | 17.4 | 16 |
| 2016 | 42 | 29.2 | 15.5 | 13.3 |
| 2022 | 48 | 27.4 | 14.1 | 10.5 |
Census 2022 results show that younger people who had completed their full-time education were markedly better educated than older people.
In total, 58% of people aged 15 to 44 had a third level qualification in comparison with 22% of those aged 65 and over.
The proportion educated to primary level only for those aged 65 and over was 28%, whereas this was the case for just 3% of people aged between 15 and 44 years.
| No formal/Primary education | Secondary | Third level (non-degree) | Third level (degree) | Not stated | |
| 15 - 24 years | 3.2257548532948 | 51.1706024430428 | 8.528256012967 | 25.4733328712417 | 11.6020538194537 |
| 25 - 34 years | 2.22043955290145 | 27.6098215340526 | 11.3243751024188 | 51.1280358837361 | 7.71732792689108 |
| 35 - 44 years | 3.06536816247764 | 29.9612761043732 | 13.9788552970949 | 46.3129513089476 | 6.68154912710658 |
| 45 - 54 years | 4.52719167544176 | 39.5343685419581 | 13.7715419793585 | 37.0283827621681 | 5.13851504107353 |
| 55 - 64 years | 8.56984514959726 | 49.9518010520729 | 11.779678457056 | 24.9952162092881 | 4.70345913198569 |
| 65 years and over | 28.4728327707134 | 42.8828463078641 | 6.37669659251331 | 15.5032669744929 | 6.76435735441631 |
The highest proportion of people aged 15 years and over who had a third level education was in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (65%).
This was followed by Galway City (53%) and Fingal (50%).
Donegal had the highest proportion (16%) of people with either no formal or primary education only.
This was followed by Monaghan (14%) and Mayo and Cavan (both at 13%).
The age at which people completed their full-time education steadily rose between 1991 and 2022.
Among those who had completed their education in 1991, 26% left school before they turned 15 (601,958).
By 2022, this figure had decreased by 75% to just over 150,000 people or 4%.
The proportion of people who remained in full-time education until their early 20s rose over time.
Census 1991 showed that 5% had completed their education aged 22 years or over (111,867 people).
In April 2022, this proportion was 25% (or 846,213 people).
| 1991 | 1996 | 2002 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | 2022 | |
| Under 15 years | 601958 | 554303 | 343336 | 322345 | 239908 | 184266 | 151321 |
| 15 - 16 years | 643883 | 624215 | 547123 | 530268 | 410622 | 350792 | 351820 |
| 17 - 19 years | 697434 | 797118 | 830870 | 882961 | 746610 | 698583 | 793816 |
| 20 - 21 years | 108934 | 157472 | 215866 | 274381 | 268658 | 281331 | 344950 |
| 22 - 24 years | 86278 | 128019 | 198853 | 272586 | 297276 | 340125 | 471525 |
| 25 years and over | 25589 | 60227 | 94952 | 148788 | 190847 | 253702 | 374688 |
Compared with 2016, every county in the State recorded an increase in the average age at which people had completed their full-time education.
In 2022, Monaghan had the youngest average age at which education had ceased, 19.7 years.
Galway City had the highest average age, 22.6 years.
Looking at Local Electoral Areas, Pembroke in Dublin City was the area with the highest average age at which people completed their education (23.8 years).
This was followed by Galway City West at 23.5 years.
Palmerstown-Fonthill in South Dublin had the lowest average age at which people completed their education (18.9 years).
In 2022, half of females aged 15 years and over had a third level qualification, compared with 47% of males.
Just over 15% of males were educated up to lower secondary, whereas 12% of females had a similar level of education.
Census 2022 results show that among people aged 25 to 39 years, women had generally stayed longer in full-time education than men.
Only 8% of females in this age group had completed their full-time education aged 17 or under compared with 12% of males.
In the age group 40 to 59 years, 17% of females and 23% of males had completed their education before they turned 18.
Among people aged 60 and over, the differences between when men and women completed their full time education were less notable; just over one-third of females and 39% of males had ceased their education aged 17 or under.
| 0 - 24 years | 25 - 39 years | 40 - 59 years | 60 years and over | |
| Male | 16 | 12 | 23 | 39 |
| Female | 12 | 8 | 17 | 34 |
This section looks at the level of educational achievement among countries with more than 3,000 citizens living in the State.
Some 45% of Irish citizens aged 15 and over had a third level degree.
In comparison, 86% of Indian citizens in the same age group had a third level degree.
More than four in five American (74%), French (74%) and German (73%) citizens had a third level degree.
Among Irish citizens aged 15 years and over, 11% were educated no higher than primary school level.
Other countries with relatively high proportions of citizens whose education ceased no later than primary level were Romania at 8% and UK at 6%.
Among non-Irish citizens, the UK had the largest proportion of citizens whose highest education level was lower secondary (10%, 8,191 people).
Latvian citizens had the highest proportion qualified no higher than upper secondary level (48%, 5,311 people).
In 2022, just over one in ten people aged 15 years and over who had completed their education had no formal or primary school education only (10%), down from 12% in 2016.
Nearly one-quarter of these indicated that they had no formal education (81,280 people).
Just under 11,000 people with no formal or primary education only were aged between 15 and 29 years. Most of them (61%) were males.
In 2022, there were 51,184 persons aged between 20 and 49 years who were educated no higher than primary level.
Labour force participation rate among this group was 61% compared with 86% among those of the same age educated to upper secondary level.
Among all people aged 15 and over educated no higher than primary level, 13% or 44,096 were unable to work due to permanent sickness or disability.
In contrast, only 2% of those with third level education were unable to work due to illness.
The majority of people educated either no higher than primary level (88%) or to third level (89%) who were unable to work due to illness also reported at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty.
Almost 13,500 people with no formal or primary education only had a difficulty with basic physical activities such as walking and lifting.
Around 26,000 of those who were unable to work also reported a difficulty attending work, school or college (59%).
| Not in the labour force | Unemployed | At work | |
| 15 years | 10 | 13 | 10 |
| 16 years | 21 | 15 | 11 |
| 17 years | 34 | 26 | 20 |
| 18 years | 89 | 48 | 45 |
| 19 years | 160 | 47 | 74 |
| 20 years | 166 | 64 | 78 |
| 21 years | 170 | 47 | 96 |
| 22 years | 202 | 56 | 121 |
| 23 years | 193 | 66 | 114 |
| 24 years | 217 | 54 | 121 |
| 25 years | 207 | 64 | 147 |
| 26 years | 232 | 80 | 148 |
| 27 years | 198 | 82 | 189 |
| 28 years | 219 | 60 | 181 |
| 29 years | 206 | 82 | 183 |
| 30 years | 217 | 74 | 207 |
| 31 years | 242 | 100 | 231 |
| 32 years | 248 | 91 | 244 |
| 33 years | 246 | 112 | 268 |
| 34 years | 268 | 110 | 282 |
| 35 years | 327 | 120 | 312 |
| 36 years | 299 | 125 | 295 |
| 37 years | 329 | 111 | 345 |
| 38 years | 338 | 107 | 338 |
| 39 years | 348 | 128 | 395 |
| 40 years | 369 | 115 | 379 |
| 41 years | 412 | 151 | 444 |
| 42 years | 437 | 155 | 413 |
| 43 years | 406 | 122 | 418 |
| 44 years | 376 | 124 | 384 |
| 45 years | 390 | 123 | 422 |
| 46 years | 434 | 157 | 431 |
| 47 years | 432 | 162 | 443 |
| 48 years | 494 | 161 | 442 |
| 49 years | 523 | 159 | 493 |
| 50 years | 566 | 162 | 523 |
| 51 years | 545 | 183 | 510 |
| 52 years | 570 | 186 | 481 |
| 53 years | 541 | 150 | 485 |
| 54 years | 635 | 124 | 512 |
| 55 years | 664 | 149 | 468 |
| 56 years | 652 | 143 | 435 |
| 57 years | 764 | 198 | 535 |
| 58 years | 742 | 182 | 551 |
| 59 years | 783 | 162 | 500 |
| 60 years | 854 | 158 | 470 |
| 61 years | 885 | 175 | 503 |
| 62 years | 937 | 174 | 500 |
| 63 years | 978 | 125 | 448 |
| 64 years | 971 | 184 | 442 |
| 65 years | 1212 | 111 | 379 |
| 66 years | 1427 | 30 | 216 |
| 67 years | 1571 | 24 | 179 |
| 68 years | 1464 | 16 | 156 |
| 69 years | 1643 | 15 | 155 |
| 70 years | 1677 | 16 | 140 |
| 71 years | 1842 | 7 | 111 |
| 72 years | 1789 | 6 | 123 |
| 73 years | 1890 | 5 | 103 |
| 74 years | 1988 | 7 | 120 |
| 75 years | 1904 | 3 | 91 |
| 76 years | 1787 | 5 | 63 |
| 77 years | 1653 | 1 | 59 |
| 78 years | 1601 | 4 | 38 |
| 79 years | 1481 | 7 | 36 |
| 80 years | 1271 | 7 | 27 |
| 81 years | 1294 | 0 | 22 |
| 82 years | 1214 | 2 | 18 |
| 83 years | 1188 | 4 | 22 |
| 84 years | 1055 | 1 | 13 |
| 85 years | 949 | 2 | 16 |
| 86 years | 901 | 2 | 10 |
| 87 years | 747 | 2 | 7 |
| 88 years | 643 | 0 | 3 |
| 89 years | 538 | 1 | 1 |
| 90 years | 437 | 2 | 4 |
| 91 years | 377 | 1 | 4 |
| 92 years | 271 | 0 | 1 |
| 93 years | 199 | 0 | 2 |
| 94 years | 159 | 0 | 1 |
| 95 years | 106 | 0 | 0 |
| 96 years | 67 | 0 | 1 |
| 97 years | 45 | 0 | 0 |
| 98 years | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| 99 years | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 100 years and over | 38 | 0 | 0 |
| Not in the labour force | Unemployed | At work | |
| 15 years | 31 | 17 | 21 |
| 16 years | 61 | 50 | 34 |
| 17 years | 82 | 87 | 37 |
| 18 years | 80 | 109 | 62 |
| 19 years | 180 | 94 | 108 |
| 20 years | 168 | 130 | 138 |
| 21 years | 200 | 110 | 236 |
| 22 years | 215 | 122 | 302 |
| 23 years | 208 | 99 | 186 |
| 24 years | 213 | 124 | 158 |
| 25 years | 206 | 102 | 178 |
| 26 years | 211 | 119 | 170 |
| 27 years | 199 | 117 | 189 |
| 28 years | 224 | 121 | 214 |
| 29 years | 219 | 137 | 210 |
| 30 years | 251 | 148 | 251 |
| 31 years | 270 | 146 | 287 |
| 32 years | 308 | 165 | 341 |
| 33 years | 283 | 151 | 308 |
| 34 years | 316 | 191 | 403 |
| 35 years | 315 | 173 | 455 |
| 36 years | 359 | 223 | 482 |
| 37 years | 388 | 219 | 495 |
| 38 years | 425 | 229 | 586 |
| 39 years | 448 | 232 | 641 |
| 40 years | 456 | 257 | 677 |
| 41 years | 474 | 282 | 650 |
| 42 years | 518 | 224 | 806 |
| 43 years | 501 | 218 | 705 |
| 44 years | 497 | 225 | 694 |
| 45 years | 517 | 230 | 745 |
| 46 years | 549 | 260 | 801 |
| 47 years | 577 | 272 | 887 |
| 48 years | 651 | 244 | 849 |
| 49 years | 638 | 261 | 934 |
| 50 years | 700 | 271 | 948 |
| 51 years | 702 | 248 | 969 |
| 52 years | 752 | 292 | 963 |
| 53 years | 799 | 284 | 885 |
| 54 years | 880 | 249 | 1041 |
| 55 years | 942 | 293 | 1063 |
| 56 years | 1061 | 310 | 1148 |
| 57 years | 1259 | 324 | 1162 |
| 58 years | 1262 | 311 | 1282 |
| 59 years | 1467 | 347 | 1333 |
| 60 years | 1508 | 342 | 1284 |
| 61 years | 1752 | 376 | 1295 |
| 62 years | 1968 | 369 | 1422 |
| 63 years | 2232 | 411 | 1448 |
| 64 years | 2837 | 399 | 1534 |
| 65 years | 3569 | 325 | 1346 |
| 66 years | 4628 | 46 | 897 |
| 67 years | 5556 | 45 | 952 |
| 68 years | 5908 | 48 | 986 |
| 69 years | 7246 | 47 | 980 |
| 70 years | 7726 | 29 | 919 |
| 71 years | 8140 | 19 | 844 |
| 72 years | 8864 | 29 | 783 |
| 73 years | 9212 | 19 | 769 |
| 74 years | 9062 | 14 | 694 |
| 75 years | 9078 | 15 | 628 |
| 76 years | 8747 | 11 | 505 |
| 77 years | 8010 | 12 | 424 |
| 78 years | 7697 | 8 | 325 |
| 79 years | 7091 | 8 | 301 |
| 80 years | 6349 | 4 | 221 |
| 81 years | 5978 | 7 | 166 |
| 82 years | 5777 | 5 | 147 |
| 83 years | 5307 | 3 | 129 |
| 84 years | 4596 | 0 | 92 |
| 85 years | 4314 | 3 | 98 |
| 86 years | 3841 | 5 | 68 |
| 87 years | 3336 | 3 | 39 |
| 88 years | 3000 | 3 | 51 |
| 89 years | 2444 | 2 | 35 |
| 90 years | 2044 | 3 | 32 |
| 91 years | 1751 | 0 | 24 |
| 92 years | 1251 | 6 | 17 |
| 93 years | 960 | 2 | 8 |
| 94 years | 730 | 1 | 7 |
| 95 years | 558 | 2 | 7 |
| 96 years | 379 | 1 | 5 |
| 97 years | 288 | 0 | 1 |
| 98 years | 160 | 0 | 1 |
| 99 years | 117 | 0 | 1 |
| 100 years and over | 184 | 3 | 1 |
Explore census data from county level to neighbourhood (Small Area) level
