Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's … Bachelor gender in South Korea
South Korea: Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's … Bachelor gender was 0.7557 GPIA in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent in South Korea, 2003–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in GPIA.
Analysis
In 2024, educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in South Korea stood at 0.7557 GPIA. That is the highest value across all 22 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.6% on the previous year and up 15.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in South Korea peaked at 0.7557 GPIA in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.5267 GPIA, in 2003.
South Korea ranks 84th of 108 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 22 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's … Bachelor gender in South Korea, year by year
| Year | GPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 0.5267 GPIA | — |
| 2004 | 0.5337 GPIA | +1.3% |
| 2005 | 0.5466 GPIA | +2.4% |
| 2006 | 0.5685 GPIA | +4.0% |
| 2007 | 0.5911 GPIA | +4.0% |
| 2008 | 0.5973 GPIA | +1.0% |
| 2009 | 0.6117 GPIA | +2.4% |
| 2010 | 0.6713 GPIA | +9.7% |
| 2011 | 0.6192 GPIA | -7.8% |
| 2012 | 0.6251 GPIA | +1.0% |
| 2013 | 0.6425 GPIA | +2.8% |
| 2014 | 0.6573 GPIA | +2.3% |
| 2015 | 0.7204 GPIA | +9.6% |
| 2016 | 0.6836 GPIA | -5.1% |
| 2017 | 0.6949 GPIA | +1.7% |
| 2018 | 0.7039 GPIA | +1.3% |
| 2019 | 0.719 GPIA | +2.1% |
| 2020 | 0.7309 GPIA | +1.7% |
| 2021 | 0.7317 GPIA | +0.1% |
| 2022 | 0.7454 GPIA | +1.9% |
| 2023 | 0.7436 GPIA | -0.2% |
| 2024 | 0.7557 GPIA | +1.6% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 0.7557 GPIA is below the median for high income countries, which is 1.15 GPIA, 66% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 0.7557 GPIA is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 1.03 GPIA, 73% of the median. (14 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.568 GPIA | 0.5267 GPIA | 0.6117 GPIA | 7 |
| 2010s | 0.6737 GPIA | 0.6192 GPIA | 0.7204 GPIA | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.7415 GPIA | 0.7309 GPIA | 0.7557 GPIA | 5 |
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 rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in South Korea?
- Educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in South Korea was 0.7557 GPIA in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 0.7557 GPIA in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.5267 GPIA in 2003.
- How does South Korea rank for educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent?
- South Korea ranks 84th out of 108 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 15.0%. 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 rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent education or higher, population 25+ years, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 22 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release