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Table 4.1 Ireland: Real current public expenditure on education, 2007-20161
€ per student at constant 2015 prices€m at 2015 prices
YearLevelReal Current Public Expenditure
PrimarySecond1Third
20076,0648,82010,8067,644
20086,7539,77411,6767,878
20096,9929,85211,0528,153
20106,3388,7949,7788,105
20116,4188,8609,2238,017
20126,4178,9398,7217,823
20136,3268,3208,1947,804
20146,0058,1157,5917,827
20156,2958,2577,5768,019
20166,2068,1667,0898,035
Source: Department of Education and Skills, CSO
1 Second level includes further education, e.g. post-Leaving Certificate programmes
  • Between 2007 and 2009, Ireland's real current public expenditure on education (at constant prices) increased from €7.6bn to €8.2bn. It then decreased to €7.8bn in 2013, before increasing again to €8.0bn in 2016. Overall, between 2007 and 2016, real current public expenditure increased by 5.1%.

  • Ireland's current expenditure on primary education increased by 2.3% between 2007 and 2016, from €6,064 per student to €6,206 per student.

  • At secondary level, real expenditure per student decreased by 7.4% between 2007 and 2016, from €8,820 per student in 2007 to €8,166 per student in 2016.

  • Over the same period, real expenditure per student at third level education decreased from €10,806 in 2007 to €7,089 in 2016, a drop of 34.4%.
YearPrimarySecondaryThird Level
20065471733110054
20076064882010806
20086753977411676
20096992985211052
2010633887949778
2011641888609223
2012641789398721
2013632683208194
2014600581157591
2015629582577576
2016620681667089
Table 4.2 Ireland: Number of students by level, 2010-20201,2,3
YearPrimary LevelSecondary Level Third Level
2010505,998350,687189,779
2011509,652356,107194,269
2012516,458359,047196,846
2013526,422362,847200,641
2014536,317367,178205,407
2015544,696372,296210,624
2016553,380378,003219,482
2017558,314384,237220,664
2018563,459388,281223,743
2019567,772392,267228,503
2020567,716395,611235,697
Source: Department of Education and Skills, Higher Education Authority, CSO
1Year refers to the year at the end of the academic year, i.e. 2010 is the school year 2009/2010.
2 Only students in institutions aided by the Department of Education and Skills are included.
3 Second level includes further education, e.g. post-Leaving Certificate programmes.
  • In 2020 primary school enrolment increased by 12.2% (or 61,718 students) compared with 2010, rising from 505,998 to 567,716.

  • Over the same time period, secondary school enrolment increased by 12.8%.
  • The number of third level students increased by nearly a quarter (24.2%) in 2020 compared with 2010.
YearPrimary LevelSecondary Level Third Level
2010505998350687189779
2011509652356107194269
2012516458359047196846
2013526422362847200641
2014536317367178205407
2015544696372296210624
2016553380378003219482
2017558314384237220664
2018563459388281223743
2019567772392267228503
2020567716395611235697
Table 4.3 By country: Ratio of students to teachers, 20181,2
CountryPrimaryLower SecondaryUpper Secondary
Luxembourg9.010.78.6
Greece9.27.99.4
Poland9.611.49.6
Hungary10.211.011.9
Slovenia10.3:13.7
Lithuania11.27.68.0
Italy11.511.010.4
Austria11.58.510.1
Denmark11.910.911.7
Latvia12.08.610.7
Portugal12.49.49.0
Cyprus12.69.68.6
Belgium12.88.99.6
Estonia13.110.115.7
Malta13.36.77.5
EU2713.612.011.3
Spain13.611.910.5
Finland13.68.918.9
Sweden13.611.113.6
Bulgaria13.711.413.0
Croatia13.78.58.1
Ireland15.2:13.0
Germany15.313.012.6
Netherlands16.416.117.6
Slovakia17.512.513.5
Czech Republic19.212.411.4
France19.214.411.4
Romania19.511.513.6
   
United Kingdom19.915.818.0
   
   
EFTA Countries:
Norway10.18.910.2
Liechtenstein10.57.311.4
Iceland11.010.1:
   
EU Candidate Countries:
Macedonia15.08.510.3
Serbia15.110.410.1
Turkey17.215.912.3
Montenegro:14.014.4
Source: Eurostat, Department of Education and Skills
1Data for Ireland from the Department of Education and Skills. For Ireland, data for Upper Secondary (ISCED Level 3) includes data for both ISCED Level 2 and ISCED Level 3.
2Sorted by "Primary", ascending.
  • Ireland had a student to teacher ratio of 15.2 for primary level education in 2018. This was the sixth highest ratio in the EU27 and was above the EU27 average of 13.6.

  • The lowest student to teacher ratio for primary education in the EU27 in 2018 was in Luxembourg at 9.0, and the highest was in Romania at 19.5.

  • For secondary level, Ireland had a student to teacher ratio of 13.0 in 2018. The EU27 average for upper secondary was 11.3.

  • In 2018, Malta had the lowest student to teacher ratio in upper secondary at 7.5, and Finland had the highest at 18.9. For lower secondary, Malta also had the lowest at 6.7, and the Netherlands had the highest at 16.1.
Table 4.4 By country: Persons aged 25-34 with third level education by sex, 20191
% of population aged 25-34
CountryTotal PersonsMalesFemalesDifferential
Cyprus58.948.768.7-20.0
Lithuania55.245.465.8-20.4
Luxembourg53.248.458.2-9.8
Ireland53.149.456.7-7.3
Sweden48.541.156.4-15.3
Netherlands48.343.453.3-9.9
Belgium47.039.554.5-15.0
France46.742.051.2-9.2
Spain46.240.252.2-12.0
Denmark45.837.854.1-16.3
Slovenia43.334.053.8-19.8
Greece42.935.950.0-14.1
Estonia42.830.456.3-25.9
Latvia42.432.453.0-20.6
Malta42.236.448.6-12.2
Finland42.034.450.1-15.7
Austria40.936.645.5-8.9
Slovakia39.231.047.7-16.7
Poland39.130.647.9-17.3
EU2738.533.144.0-10.9
Portugal37.029.244.6-15.4
Croatia35.825.047.1-22.1
Germany32.431.233.5-2.3
Czech Republic32.325.839.1-13.3
Bulgaria32.225.939.0-13.1
Hungary30.024.336.1-11.8
Italy27.521.533.8-12.3
Romania25.422.029.2-7.2
United Kingdom48.945.452.4-7.0
EFTA Countries:
Switzerland51.851.252.5-1.3
Norway48.640.157.4-17.3
Iceland44.836.954.3-17.4
EU Candidate Countries:
Montenegro42.538.546.7-8.2
Macedonia35.630.740.7-10.0
Turkey33.332.733.9-1.2
Serbia33.126.140.4-14.3
Source: Eurostat - Population and Social Conditions
1Sorted by "Total Persons", descending.
  • More than half (53.1%) of persons aged 25-34 in Ireland had a third level qualification in 2019, above the EU27 average of 38.5%, and the fourth highest rate in the EU27.
  • Females were more likely to have a third level education compared to males in all EU countries in 2019, with Estonia having the highest percentage points differential of 25.9.
  • In Ireland, 49.4% of men aged 25-34 had a third level qualification, compared to 56.7% of women.
  • Ireland had the third lowest percentage gender differential between men and women with third level education at 7.3 while Germany had the lowest gender differential at 2.3.
YearEU27Ireland
200930.946.5
201031.446.8
201132.346.2
201233.348.1
201334.349.6
201435.150.3
201535.750.9
201636.151.3
201736.951.9
201837.853.7
201938.553.1
Table 4.5 By country: Student performance on the mathematical, reading and scientific literacy scales, 20181,2
Mean score of 15 year old students
CountryMathematicsReadingScience
Estonia523.4523.0530.1
Netherlands519.2484.8503.4
Poland515.6511.9511.0
Denmark509.4501.1492.6
Slovenia508.9495.3507.0
Belgium508.1492.9498.8
Finland507.3520.1521.9
Sweden502.4505.8499.4
Germany500.0498.3503.0
Ireland499.6518.1496.1
Czech Republic499.5490.2496.8
Austria498.9484.4489.8
Latvia496.1478.7487.3
France495.4492.6493.0
Portugal492.5491.8491.7
OECD Average489.3487.1488.7
Italy486.6476.3468.0
Slovak Republic486.2458.0464.0
Luxembourg483.4470.0476.8
Spain481.4:483.3
Lithuania481.2475.9482.1
Hungary481.1476.0480.9
Greece451.4457.4451.6
    
United Kingdom501.8503.9504.7
EFTA Countries:
Switzerland515.3483.9495.3
Norway501.0499.5490.4
Iceland495.2474.0475.0
EU Candidate Countries:
Turkey453.5465.6468.3
1 Data sourced from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), an
 international triennial test given to 15 year - olds (see Appendix 1).
2 Sorted by "Mathematics", descending.
: indicates data unavailable.
  • The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) exam is held every three years, with the most recent occurring in 2018. The exam is scored on a scale of 0 to 1,000.

  • The average score of 15 year-olds in Ireland on the mathematical literacy scale was 499.6, the tenth highest in the EU27 and above the OECD average score of 489.3. Estonia had the highest score in this category at 523.4.

  • In reading literacy, Ireland had a score of 518.1 points, the third highest in the EU27. Estonia had the highest reading literacy score at 523.

  • The average score for scientific literacy in Ireland was 496.1, the tenth highest in the EU27 and above the OECD average of 488.7. The three EU27 countries with the highest scientific literacy scores were: Estonia (530.1), Finland (521.9), and Poland (511).
Table 4.6 By country: Young persons aged 18-24 neither in employment nor in education and training by sex, 20191
% of population aged 18-24
CountryTotal PersonsMalesFemalesGender Differential
Italy23.223.023.3-0.3
Cyprus18.619.417.81.6
Romania18.514.123.2-9.1
Greece17.918.117.70.4
Bulgaria16.915.618.3-2.7
Spain15.716.015.30.7
Croatia15.114.515.8-1.3
France14.414.814.00.8
Hungary14.011.217.1-5.9
EU2713.212.713.8-1.1
Ireland12.412.512.20.3
Slovakia12.410.514.5-4.0
Belgium11.612.910.32.6
Lithuania11.412.79.92.8
Finland11.311.810.71.1
Poland11.19.313.1-3.8
Portugal11.110.212.0-1.8
Latvia10.812.09.42.6
Denmark10.210.59.80.7
Austria9.18.89.4-0.6
Slovenia9.17.710.6-2.9
Estonia9.08.29.8-1.6
Luxembourg8.38.48.10.3
Malta7.87.38.4-1.1
Germany7.77.08.5-1.5
Czech Republic7.54.011.1-7.1
Sweden7.57.47.5-0.1
Netherlands5.55.95.00.9
     
United Kingdom13.513.313.8-0.5
     
EFTA Countries:
Switzerland7.39.35.24.1
Norway6.46.46.5-0.1
Iceland5.67.13.93.2
     
EU Candidate Countries:
Turkey32.922.743.3-20.6
Macedonia24.423.325.4-2.1
Montenegro22.124.319.84.5
Serbia20.019.220.9-1.7
Source: Eurostat, Population and Social Conditions
1Sorted by "Total Persons", descending.
  • The NEET rate measures the proportion of young people aged 18-24 who are neither in employment nor in education and training.

  • In 2019, the NEET rate in Ireland was 12.4%, below the EU27 rate of 13.2%. 

  • In the EU27, the Netherlands had the lowest NEET rate at 5.5%, while Italy had the highest at 23.2%.

  • Twelve countries in the EU27 had higher NEET rates for men. Of these, Lithuania had the highest gender differential at 2.8.

  • The remaining fifteen countries had higher NEET rates amongst women in 2019, with the largest occurring in Romania at 9.1.
This map is © Ordnance Survey Ireland. All rights reserved. License number 01/05/001.
Table 4.7 By country: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics graduates by sex, 20181
Per 1,000 of population aged 20-29
CountryTotal PersonsMalesFemalesDifferential
Ireland35.247.323.024.3
France26.636.516.819.7
Finland23.833.713.420.3
Denmark23.330.815.415.4
Austria22.832.712.420.3
Spain21.530.112.717.4
Poland20.923.318.54.8
Slovenia20.726.214.811.4
Portugal20.525.515.410.1
Germany20.127.811.816.0
Lithuania19.926.313.013.3
EU2719.625.613.412.2
Croatia18.622.914.28.7
Greece17.620.514.56.0
Czech Republic16.520.612.38.3
Romania15.917.713.93.8
Estonia15.718.312.95.4
Italy15.518.412.55.9
Sweden14.918.611.07.6
Belgium14.020.67.213.4
Slovakia13.917.79.97.8
Latvia13.818.48.99.5
Bulgaria13.616.710.46.3
Netherlands12.817.58.09.5
Hungary12.216.27.88.4
Malta12.015.68.07.6
Cyprus10.012.87.25.6
Luxembourg4.06.11.84.3
United Kingdom25.229.920.29.7
EFTA Countries:
Switzerland21.232.29.922.3
Norway16.623.09.913.1
Iceland15.218.211.96.3
Liechtenstein7.05.68.6-3.0
EU Candidate Countries:
Serbia15.517.313.53.8
Turkey13.017.08.78.3
Macedonia7.77.97.50.4
Source: Eurostat - Population and Social Conditions
1Sorted by "Total Persons", descending.
  • Ireland had the highest rate of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) graduates in 2018, at 35.2 per 1,000 of persons aged 20-29.

  • Furthermore, Ireland also had the largest gender differential in the EU27 at 24.3, with 47.3 male STEM graduates per 1,000 persons aged 20-29 compared with 23.0 females.

  • Luxembourg had the lowest rate of STEM graduates in 2018 at 4.0 per 1,000 of persons aged 20-29. 
  • In 2018, Romania had the lowest gender differential in the EU27 at 3.8, with 17.7 male STEM graduates per 1,000 persons aged 20-29 compared with 13.9 for female STEM graduates.

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