Statizoid

Duration of pre-primary education in South Korea

South Korea: Duration of pre-primary education was 3 years in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)
3 years
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
27th
of 223 countries
All-time high
3 years
in 2001
All-time low
1 years
in 1970
Years of data
56
1970–2025

Duration of pre-primary education in South Korea, 1970–2025

11.522.53197019972025

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.

Analysis

South Korea recorded 3 years for duration of pre-primary education in 2025. That is the highest value across all 56 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is unchanged over ten years.

Over the whole period, duration of pre-primary education in South Korea peaked at 3 years in 2001 and was at its lowest, 1 years, in 1970.

South Korea ranks 27th of 223 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Duration of pre-primary education in South Korea, year by year

Year years Change
1970 1 years —
1971 1 years +0.0%
1972 1 years +0.0%
1973 1 years +0.0%
1974 1 years +0.0%
1975 1 years +0.0%
1976 1 years +0.0%
1977 1 years +0.0%
1978 1 years +0.0%
1979 1 years +0.0%
1980 1 years +0.0%
1981 1 years +0.0%
1982 1 years +0.0%
1983 1 years +0.0%
1984 1 years +0.0%
1985 1 years +0.0%
1986 1 years +0.0%
1987 1 years +0.0%
1988 1 years +0.0%
1989 1 years +0.0%
1990 1 years +0.0%
1991 1 years +0.0%
1992 1 years +0.0%
1993 1 years +0.0%
1994 1 years +0.0%
1995 1 years +0.0%
1996 1 years +0.0%
1997 1 years +0.0%
1998 1 years +0.0%
1999 1 years +0.0%
2000 1 years +0.0%
2001 3 years +200.0%
2002 3 years +0.0%
2003 3 years +0.0%
2004 3 years +0.0%
2005 3 years +0.0%
2006 3 years +0.0%
2007 3 years +0.0%
2008 3 years +0.0%
2009 3 years +0.0%
2010 3 years +0.0%
2011 3 years +0.0%
2012 3 years +0.0%
2013 3 years +0.0%
2014 3 years +0.0%
2015 3 years +0.0%
2016 3 years +0.0%
2017 3 years +0.0%
2018 3 years +0.0%
2019 3 years +0.0%
2020 3 years +0.0%
2021 3 years +0.0%
2022 3 years +0.0%
2023 3 years +0.0%
2024 3 years +0.0%
2025 3 years +0.0%

South Korea compared with similar countries

  • South Korea's 3 years is above the median for high income countries, which is 3 years, 1.0× the median. (80 countries reporting)
  • South Korea's 3 years is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 3 years, 1.0× the median. (36 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 1 years 1 years 1 years 10
1980s 1 years 1 years 1 years 10
1990s 1 years 1 years 1 years 10
2000s 2.8 years 1 years 3 years 10
2010s 3 years 3 years 3 years 10
2020s 3 years 3 years 3 years 6

Countries ranked near South Korea

  1. 27 Albania 3 years compare
  2. 27 American Samoa 3 years compare
  3. 27 Andorra 3 years compare
  4. 27 Angola 3 years compare
  5. 27 Argentina 3 years compare
  6. 27 Armenia 3 years compare
  7. 27 Austria 3 years compare
  8. 27 Azerbaijan 3 years compare
  9. 27 Bahrain 3 years compare
  10. 27 Bangladesh 3 years compare
  11. 27 Belarus 3 years compare
  12. 27 Belgium 3 years compare
  13. 27 Bhutan 3 years compare
  14. 27 Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 years compare
  15. 27 Botswana 3 years compare
  16. 27 Brunei 3 years compare
  17. 27 Burkina Faso 3 years compare
  18. 27 Burundi 3 years compare
  19. 27 Cambodia 3 years compare
  20. 27 Canada 3 years compare
  21. 27 Cape Verde 3 years compare
  22. 27 Central African Republic 3 years compare
  23. 27 Chad 3 years compare
  24. 27 Chile 3 years compare
  25. 27 China 3 years compare
  26. 27 Colombia 3 years compare
  27. 27 Comoros 3 years compare
  28. 27 Congo 3 years compare
  29. 27 Cote d'Ivoire 3 years compare
  30. 27 Cuba 3 years compare
  31. 27 Curacao 3 years compare
  32. 27 Cyprus 3 years compare
  33. 27 Czechia 3 years compare
  34. 27 Democratic Republic of Congo 3 years compare
  35. 27 Denmark 3 years compare
  36. 27 Dominican Republic 3 years compare
  37. 27 East Timor 3 years compare
  38. 27 Ecuador 3 years compare
  39. 27 El Salvador 3 years compare
  40. 27 Equatorial Guinea 3 years compare
  41. 27 Eswatini 3 years compare
  42. 27 Ethiopia 3 years compare
  43. 27 Fiji 3 years compare
  44. 27 France 3 years compare
  45. 27 French Polynesia 3 years compare
  46. 27 Gabon 3 years compare
  47. 27 Germany 3 years compare
  48. 27 Guatemala 3 years compare
  49. 27 Guinea 3 years compare
  50. 27 Guinea-Bissau 3 years compare
  51. 27 Haiti 3 years compare
  52. 27 Honduras 3 years compare
  53. 27 Hong Kong 3 years compare
  54. 27 Iceland 3 years compare
  55. 27 India 3 years compare
  56. 27 Israel 3 years compare
  57. 27 Italy 3 years compare
  58. 27 Jamaica 3 years compare
  59. 27 Japan 3 years compare
  60. 27 Kazakhstan 3 years compare
  61. 27 Kenya 3 years compare
  62. 27 Kiribati 3 years compare
  63. 27 Laos 3 years compare
  64. 27 Lebanon 3 years compare
  65. 27 Lesotho 3 years compare
  66. 27 Liberia 3 years compare
  67. 27 Luxembourg 3 years compare
  68. 27 Macao 3 years compare
  69. 27 Madagascar 3 years compare
  70. 27 Malawi 3 years compare
  71. 27 Mali 3 years compare
  72. 27 Mauritania 3 years compare
  73. 27 Mexico 3 years compare
  74. 27 Micronesia (country) 3 years compare
  75. 27 Monaco 3 years compare
  76. 27 Montenegro 3 years compare
  77. 27 Mozambique 3 years compare
  78. 27 Netherlands 3 years compare
  79. 27 New Caledonia 3 years compare
  80. 27 Nicaragua 3 years compare
  81. 27 Niger 3 years compare
  82. 27 North Macedonia 3 years compare
  83. 27 Norway 3 years compare
  84. 27 Palau 3 years compare
  85. 27 Paraguay 3 years compare
  86. 27 Peru 3 years compare
  87. 27 Portugal 3 years compare
  88. 27 Puerto Rico 3 years compare
  89. 27 Qatar 3 years compare
  90. 27 Romania 3 years compare
  91. 27 Rwanda 3 years compare
  92. 27 San Marino 3 years compare
  93. 27 Sao Tome and Principe 3 years compare
  94. 27 Saudi Arabia 3 years compare
  95. 27 Senegal 3 years compare
  96. 27 Sierra Leone 3 years compare
  97. 27 Singapore 3 years compare
  98. 27 Sint Maarten (Dutch part) 3 years compare
  99. 27 Slovakia 3 years compare
  100. 27 Slovenia 3 years compare
  101. 27 Solomon Islands 3 years compare
  102. 27 Somalia 3 years compare
  103. 27 South Sudan 3 years compare
  104. 27 Spain 3 years compare
  105. 27 Syria 3 years compare
  106. 27 Thailand 3 years compare
  107. 27 Togo 3 years compare
  108. 27 Tunisia 3 years compare
  109. 27 Turkey 3 years compare
  110. 27 Turkmenistan 3 years compare
  111. 27 Tuvalu 3 years compare
  112. 27 Uganda 3 years compare
  113. 27 Ukraine 3 years compare
  114. 27 United States 3 years compare
  115. 27 Uruguay 3 years compare
  116. 27 Venezuela 3 years compare
  117. 27 Vietnam 3 years compare
  118. 27 Yemen 3 years compare

See the full ranking of 223 places →

More education data for South Korea

All data for South Korea →

Frequently asked questions

What is duration of pre-primary education in South Korea?
Duration of pre-primary education in South Korea was 3 years in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest duration of pre-primary education recorded in South Korea?
The highest recorded value was 3 years in 2001.
What is the lowest duration of pre-primary education recorded in South Korea?
The lowest recorded value was 1 years in 1970.
How does South Korea rank for duration of pre-primary education?
South Korea ranks 27th out of 223 countries with data for 2025.
Is duration of pre-primary education rising or falling in South Korea?
Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
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 Duration of pre-primary education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 56 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Duration of pre-primary education in South Korea. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 26 September 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/duration-of-pre-primary-education/korea-rep/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://education.statizoid.com/stat/duration-of-pre-primary-education/korea-rep/">Duration of pre-primary education in South Korea</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Duration of pre-primary education
Unit
years
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
223 places, 12,020 data points, 1970–2025
Last refreshed

Average number of years that a child is expected to spend in pre-primary education, defined by country's official educational regulations or laws.