Educational attainment: at least some primary … location LPIA male in South Korea
South Korea: Educational attainment: at least some primary … location LPIA male was 0.9891 LPIA in 2023. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment: at least some primary (ISCED 1), population in South Korea, 1970–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in LPIA.
Analysis
South Korea recorded 0.9891 LPIA for educational attainment: at least some primary (isced 1), population in 2023. That is the highest value across all 16 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and up 1.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment: at least some primary (isced 1), population in South Korea peaked at 0.9891 LPIA in 2023 and was at its lowest, 0.7019 LPIA, in 1970.
South Korea ranks 42nd of 83 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 16 years of available data.
Educational attainment: at least some primary … location LPIA male in South Korea, year by year
| Year | LPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 0.7019 LPIA | — |
| 2000 | 0.93 LPIA | +32.5% |
| 2005 | 0.943 LPIA | +1.4% |
| 2009 | 0.9569 LPIA | +1.5% |
| 2010 | 0.961 LPIA | +0.4% |
| 2013 | 0.9774 LPIA | +1.7% |
| 2014 | 0.9799 LPIA | +0.3% |
| 2015 | 0.9775 LPIA | -0.3% |
| 2016 | 0.9802 LPIA | +0.3% |
| 2017 | 0.9829 LPIA | +0.3% |
| 2018 | 0.9851 LPIA | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 0.9855 LPIA | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.9832 LPIA | -0.2% |
| 2021 | 0.9818 LPIA | -0.1% |
| 2022 | 0.9852 LPIA | +0.3% |
| 2023 | 0.9891 LPIA | +0.4% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 0.9891 LPIA is below the median for high income countries, which is 1 LPIA, 99% of the median. (38 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 0.9891 LPIA is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.9847 LPIA, 1.0× the median. (9 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment: at least some primary … location LPIA male in South Korea changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | +32.5% | 0.7019 LPIA | 0.93 LPIA |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.7019 LPIA | 0.7019 LPIA | 0.7019 LPIA | 1 |
| 2000s | 0.9433 LPIA | 0.93 LPIA | 0.9569 LPIA | 3 |
| 2010s | 0.9787 LPIA | 0.961 LPIA | 0.9855 LPIA | 8 |
| 2020s | 0.9848 LPIA | 0.9818 LPIA | 0.9891 LPIA | 4 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More education data for South Korea
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 98.79 (2022)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 99.94 (2024)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 233,046 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 76 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 434,627 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 412,067 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.66 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.51 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -4.15 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment: at least some primary (isced 1), population in South Korea?
- Educational attainment: at least some primary (isced 1), population in South Korea was 0.9891 LPIA in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment: at least some primary (isced 1), population recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 0.9891 LPIA in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment: at least some primary (isced 1), population recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.7019 LPIA in 1970.
- How does South Korea rank for educational attainment: at least some primary (isced 1), population?
- South Korea ranks 42nd out of 83 countries with data for 2023.
- Is educational attainment: at least some primary (isced 1), population rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Educational attainment: at least some primary (ISCED 1), population 25+ years, male, adjusted location parity index (LPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 16 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release