Japan vs South Korea: Average years of schooling vs. expected years of schooling

Japan

12.68 years

in 2023

South Korea

12.72 years

in 2023

Japan rank

28th

South Korea rank

25th

Average years of schooling vs. expected years of schooling over time

South Korea currently reports 12.72 years against 12.68 years in Japan, a difference of 0.0382 years.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 34 shared years of data; in 1990 it was Japan ahead.

Japan ranks 28th and South Korea ranks 25th of 192 countries.

Indicator: Average years of schooling vs. expected years of schooling
Unit: years
Source: UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 192 places, 6,079 data points, 1990–2023
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Average number of years (excluding years spent repeating individual grades) adults over 25 years participated in formal education.