Share of children who are not in pre-primary school in South Korea
South Korea: Share of children who are not in pre-primary school was 5.5% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Share of children who are not in pre-primary school in South Korea, 2013–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, share of children who are not in pre-primary school in South Korea stood at 5.5%.
That represents a change of up 4.9% on the previous year and up 5.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are not in pre-primary school in South Korea peaked at 10.3% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 2.7%, in 2018.
That places South Korea 117th out of 179 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 12 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 6.7% | 2.7% | 9.5% | 7 |
| 2020s | 6.2% | 3.3% | 10.3% | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More education data for South Korea
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 69.5% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 10.2% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 100.9% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 173,133 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 0.734 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 100.8% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are not in pre-primary school in South Korea?
- Share of children who are not in pre-primary school in South Korea was 5.5% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of children who are not in pre-primary school recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 10.3% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of children who are not in pre-primary school recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.7% in 2018.
- How does South Korea rank for share of children who are not in pre-primary school?
- South Korea ranks 117th out of 179 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of children who are not in pre-primary school rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of children who are not in pre-primary school. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
Children one year before the official primary entry age (typically age 5) not enrolled in pre-primary education, expressed as a percentage of all children in that age group.