The report “Education in Numbers 2025,” released by the Directorate-General for Education and Science Statistics (DGEEC), provides data on students, teachers, non-teaching staff, and technological resources between 2013/2014 and 2023/2024. It indicates a continuing trend, started in the 2021/2022 academic year, of increasing student enrollment.
The report highlights the end of a “demographic winter” where there were fewer children in schools each year. In September 2023, schools in the mainland received 10,132 more children and young people compared to the previous year, particularly in preschool and the 1st and 3rd cycles.
However, there is also an increase in the number of primary students failing or dropping out: More than 7,600 children in the 5th and 6th grades failed or abandoned school, accounting for 3.9% of the total students in mainland schools. This was an increase from 3.7% the previous year.
In secondary education, the rates of failure and dropout decreased, from 9.8% to 9.6% nationally, according to DGEEC tables, which further show that retention and dropout rates in secondary education are lower in private schools (15.2%) than in public ones (18.3%).
Since the beginning of the century, the number of young people completing secondary education nearly doubled, from 65,395 in the 2000/2001 academic year to 111,637 two years ago.
The preschool enrollment rate has also grown significantly since the start of the century, currently standing at 94.5%. However, it remains challenging for many families to find a place, particularly those living in Setúbal (83.5% enrollment rate) or the Lisbon area (89%). It also seems harder to secure a spot for a three-year-old, the least represented age group in these schools (only 83.8%).
Nearly half of the families end up choosing private education for their children. Yet, most families enroll their children in public schools until they complete compulsory education: Only two out of every ten students (21%) attend a private school, a figure that conceals the reality of preschool, where 46% of the children are in private institutions.
The DGEEC report reveals that in September 2023, there were 1,613,945 students from preschool to secondary level, with the most significant increase in public schools.
Approximately eight thousand public and private schools employ nearly 150,000 teachers, with half teaching in the 3rd cycle and secondary schools, and more than 155,000 staff members.
