Educational attainment rate, completed … Bachelor rural both in South Korea
South Korea: Educational attainment rate, completed … Bachelor rural both was 22.2% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent in South Korea, 2010–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
South Korea recorded 22.2% for educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in 2024.
That represents a change of down 0.7% on the previous year and up 31.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in South Korea peaked at 22.4% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 12.4%, in 2010.
That places South Korea 16th out of 84 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 13 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed … Bachelor rural both in South Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 12.4% | — |
| 2013 | 16.0% | +29.0% |
| 2014 | 16.9% | +5.5% |
| 2015 | 16.4% | -3.1% |
| 2016 | 18.0% | +9.9% |
| 2017 | 17.8% | -0.9% |
| 2018 | 18.5% | +4.1% |
| 2019 | 19.4% | +4.4% |
| 2020 | 20.0% | +3.2% |
| 2021 | 21.0% | +5.0% |
| 2022 | 21.9% | +4.5% |
| 2023 | 22.4% | +2.1% |
| 2024 | 22.2% | -0.7% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 22.2% is above the median for high income countries, which is 20.3%, 1.1× the median. (37 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 22.2% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 11.2%, 2.0× the median. (11 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed … Bachelor rural both 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | +29.0% | 12.4% | 16.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 16.9% | 12.4% | 19.4% | 8 |
| 2020s | 21.5% | 20.0% | 22.4% | 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 22.2% 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 22.4% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 12.4% in 2010.
- How does South Korea rank for educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent?
- South Korea ranks 16th out of 84 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 31.8%. 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, rural, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 13 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release