Educational attainment rate, completed Doctoral … Doctoral gender in South Korea
South Korea: Educational attainment rate, completed Doctoral … Doctoral gender was 0.437 GPIA in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed Doctoral or equivalent in South Korea, 2009–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in GPIA.
Analysis
In 2024, educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent in South Korea stood at 0.437 GPIA.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 2.1% on the previous year and up 32.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent in South Korea peaked at 0.5448 GPIA in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.2655 GPIA, in 2009.
South Korea ranks 50th of 59 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 16 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed Doctoral … Doctoral gender in South Korea, year by year
| Year | GPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 0.2655 GPIA | — |
| 2010 | 0.2758 GPIA | +3.9% |
| 2011 | 0.3265 GPIA | +18.4% |
| 2012 | 0.3489 GPIA | +6.9% |
| 2013 | 0.3083 GPIA | -11.6% |
| 2014 | 0.3305 GPIA | +7.2% |
| 2015 | 0.333 GPIA | +0.8% |
| 2016 | 0.3446 GPIA | +3.5% |
| 2017 | 0.3552 GPIA | +3.1% |
| 2018 | 0.3867 GPIA | +8.9% |
| 2019 | 0.4588 GPIA | +18.6% |
| 2020 | 0.5448 GPIA | +18.7% |
| 2021 | 0.5406 GPIA | -0.8% |
| 2022 | 0.4589 GPIA | -15.1% |
| 2023 | 0.4466 GPIA | -2.7% |
| 2024 | 0.437 GPIA | -2.1% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 0.437 GPIA is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.6922 GPIA, 63% of the median. (40 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 0.437 GPIA is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.4522 GPIA, 97% of the median. (5 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.2655 GPIA | 0.2655 GPIA | 0.2655 GPIA | 1 |
| 2010s | 0.3468 GPIA | 0.2758 GPIA | 0.4588 GPIA | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.4856 GPIA | 0.437 GPIA | 0.5448 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 doctoral or equivalent in South Korea?
- Educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent in South Korea was 0.437 GPIA in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 0.5448 GPIA in 2020.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2655 GPIA in 2009.
- How does South Korea rank for educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent?
- South Korea ranks 50th out of 59 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 32.2%. 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 rate, completed Doctoral or equivalent education, population 25+ years, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA). 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