1.6 million students enrolled below higher education in the 2024/2025 school year.
Up 0.2% from 2023/2024.
How many students are there in Portugal?
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Students below higher education, by level and region
2024 / 2025
| Geographic localization (NUTS - 2024) | Total | Pré-primary education | 1st cycle of primary education | 2nd cycle of primary education | Lower secondary education | Upper secondary education | Post-secondary non-tertiary education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | 1,556,941 | 265,768 | 405,926 | 199,939 | 332,322 | 342,996 | 9,990 |
| Norte | 500,057 | 87,198 | 128,121 | 61,732 | 105,559 | 115,278 | 2,169 |
| Centro | 230,901 | 40,045 | 60,067 | 29,273 | 48,430 | 51,674 | 1,412 |
| Oeste e Vale do Tejo | 124,252 | 21,625 | 32,342 | 16,089 | 26,971 | 26,786 | 439 |
| Grande Lisboa | 346,875 | 57,463 | 90,575 | 45,879 | 73,747 | 75,368 | 3,843 |
| Península de Setúbal | 136,423 | 21,290 | 36,730 | 18,753 | 30,479 | 28,101 | 1,070 |
| Alentejo | 66,617 | 12,167 | 17,651 | 8,626 | 14,023 | 13,645 | 505 |
| Algarve | 79,082 | 13,427 | 21,603 | 10,515 | 17,132 | 15,916 | 489 |
| Região Autónoma dos Açores | 37,084 | 6,459 | 9,817 | 4,881 | 8,242 | 7,685 | - (Null or not applicable) |
| Região Autónoma da Madeira | 35,650 | 6,094 | 9,020 | 4,191 | 7,739 | 8,543 | 63 |
Conventional signs:
- -
- Null or not applicable
Higher-education students, public and private, by region
2025 / 2026
- Public
- Private
Show the data as a table
| Geographic localization (NUTS - 2024) | Public | Private |
|---|---|---|
| Norte | 113,068 | 39,015 |
| Centro | 84,501 | 3,564 |
| Oeste e Vale do Tejo | 10,382 | 1,267 |
| Grande Lisboa | 113,219 | 44,614 |
| Península de Setúbal | 14,906 | 4,850 |
| Alentejo | 14,950 | - (Null or not applicable) |
| Algarve | 10,637 | 1,191 |
| Região Autónoma dos Açores | 2,963 | - (Null or not applicable) |
| Região Autónoma da Madeira | 3,768 | 365 |
Conventional signs:
- -
- Null or not applicable
Higher-education students by field of study
2025 / 2026
Show the data as a table
| Area of education and training (ISCED-F 2013) | Number (No.) |
|---|---|
| Business and administration | 76,753 |
| Engineering and engineering trades | 68,005 |
| Health | 62,839 |
| Social and behavioural sciences | 46,338 |
| Arts | 27,392 |
| Law | 23,075 |
| Education | 20,486 |
| Personal services | 20,059 |
| Information and communication technologies (ICTs) | 18,216 |
| Architecture and construction | 15,354 |
| Biological and related sciences | 12,110 |
| Languages | 10,535 |
| Humanities (except languages) | 8,572 |
| Journalism and information | 8,402 |
| Welfare | 7,513 |
| Physical sciences | 6,773 |
| Veterinary | 6,449 |
| Inter-disciplinary programmes and qualifications involving engineering, manufacturing and construction | 4,782 |
| Mathematics and statistics | 4,562 |
| Agriculture | 4,324 |
| Manufacturing and processing | 2,866 |
| Security services | 2,223 |
| Environment | 1,959 |
| Hygiene and occupational health services | 1,766 |
| Inter-disciplinary programmes and qualifications involving arts and humanities | 395 |
| Field unknown | 381 |
| Transport services | 380 |
| Forestry | 331 |
| Fisheries | 85 |
| Business, administration and law not further defined | 82 |
| Arts and humanities not further defined | 52 |
| Inter-disciplinary programmes and qualifications involving health and welfare | 46 |
| Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary not further defined | 32 |
| Health and welfare not further defined | 24 |
| Inter-disciplinary programmes and qualifications involving business, administration and law | 19 |
| Inter-disciplinary programmes and qualifications involving Information and communication technologies (ICTs) | 18 |
| Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary not elsewhere classified | 16 |
| Inter-disciplinary programmes and qualifications involving social sciences, journalism and information | 13 |
| Engineering, manufacturing and construction not elsewhere classified | 5 |
| Inter-disciplinary programmes and qualifications involving education | 4 |
| Arts and humanities programmes not elsewhere classified | 4 |
| Inter-disciplinary programmes and qualifications involving natural sciences, mathematics and statistics | 4 |
| Social sciences, journalism and information not elsewhere classified | 3 |
| Business, administration and law not elsewhere classified | 3 |
| Engineering, manufacturing and construction not further defined | 3 |
| Health and welfare not elsewhere classified | 3 |
| Natural sciences, mathematics and statistics not further defined | 2 |
| Social sciences, journalism and information not further defined | 1 |
| Inter-disciplinary programmes and qualifications involving services | 1 |
| Generic programmes and qualifications not further defined | - (Null or not applicable) |
| Basic programmes and qualifications | - (Null or not applicable) |
| Literacy and numeracy | - (Null or not applicable) |
| Personal skills and development | - (Null or not applicable) |
| Generic programmes and qualifications not elsewhere classified | - (Null or not applicable) |
| Natural sciences, mathematics and statistics not elsewhere classified | - (Null or not applicable) |
| Inter-disciplinary programmes and qualifications involving agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary | - (Null or not applicable) |
| Services not further defined | - (Null or not applicable) |
| Services programmes not elsewhere classified | - (Null or not applicable) |
Conventional signs:
- -
- Null or not applicable
About these data
Show sources, notes, calculation rules and citation
Sources, units, dates, notes, calculation rules, citation and provenance of every chart and table on this page.
- Reference
- Measure P08 of the list of selected indicators: Students enrolled — number
Comparison with the previous period
Change calculated by the project from the published values (2024 / 2025: 1,556,941; 2023 / 2024: 1,553,153): (1,556,941 − 1,553,153) ÷ 1,553,153 × 100 = 0.2%, rounded to one decimal place. Not a value published by Statistics Portugal.
Exact value: 1,556,941. In the headline, large values are rounded to millions.
Students below higher education, by level and region
- Period
- 2024 / 2025
- Unit
- Number (No.)
- Nature of institution
- Total
- Data as of
- 3 November 2026
Notes
- Statistics Portugal note (0012427): A partir do ano letivo de 2004/2005, o ensino pós-secundário não superior passou a incluir os cursos de especialização tecnológica ministrados em estabelecimentos do ensino superior, para além daqueles ministrados em estabelecimentos de ensino não superior, sob a tutela do Ministério da Educação.
Source
- Directorate-General for Education and Science Statistics: Students enrolled in non-tertiary education, in youth oriented education/training offers (No.) by Geographic localization (NUTS - 2024), Education level and Nature of institution, source last updated 29 June 2026. View in the Statistics Portugal database (0012427)
Suggested citation
Statistics Portugal. People: “Students below higher education, by level and region”. http://localhost:4321/en/as-pessoas/p08#x-P08-niveis. Data as of 3 November 2026; accessed 4 November 2026.
Provenance
- Version
INE:0012427@2026-11-03T19:27:13.360Z- Observations checksum (SHA-256)
43875a992103bf2ad942f27da1c44291e1cb59149be981c5bc1f0062049cc0b9
Higher-education students, public and private, by region
- Period
- 2025 / 2026
- Unit
- Number (No.)
- Data as of
- 3 November 2026
Notes
- Statistics Portugal note (0012591): Beginning of Bolognha Process in 2006/2007 school year (Decree-law 74/2016, of 24 th March).
Source
- Directorate-General for Education and Science Statistics: Students enrolled in tertiary education (No.) by Geographic localization (NUTS - 2024) and Nature of institution, source last updated 28 September 2026. View in the Statistics Portugal database (0012591)
Suggested citation
Statistics Portugal. People: “Higher-education students, public and private, by region”. http://localhost:4321/en/as-pessoas/p08#x-P08-superior-natureza. Data as of 3 November 2026; accessed 4 November 2026.
Provenance
- Version
INE:0012591@2026-11-03T19:27:19.971Z- Observations checksum (SHA-256)
226523a682a26183cf17c665f5c47695ac1d42584efa43a82da63439f1d904e1
Higher-education students by field of study
- Period
- 2025 / 2026
- Unit
- Number (No.)
- Geographic localization (NUTS - 2024)
- Portugal
- Sex
- Total
- Data as of
- 3 November 2026
Notes
- Statistics Portugal note (0012638): Beginning of Bolognha Process in 2006/2007 school year (Decree-law 74/2016, of 24 th March).
Source
- Directorate-General for Education and Science Statistics: Students enrolled in tertiary education (No.) by Geographic localization (NUTS - 2024), Sex and Area of education and training (ISCED-F 2013), source last updated 28 September 2026. View in the Statistics Portugal database (0012638)
Suggested citation
Statistics Portugal. People: “Higher-education students by field of study”. http://localhost:4321/en/as-pessoas/p08#x-P08-superior-areas. Data as of 3 November 2026; accessed 4 November 2026.
Provenance
- Version
INE:0012638@2026-11-03T19:27:25.731Z- Observations checksum (SHA-256)
a7d234e64f5fc3cab4ada646a2f47883cfa099bcbe53f7c446b8f6e2f3dc3f69