Educational attainment rate, completed Doctoral … Doctoral rural both in South Korea
South Korea: Educational attainment rate, completed Doctoral … Doctoral rural both was 0.4% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed Doctoral or equivalent in South Korea, 2010–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent in South Korea is 0.4%, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 12 years on record.
That represents a change of up 34.5% on the previous year and up 36.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent in South Korea peaked at 0.4% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 2010.
That places South Korea 20th out of 40 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 12 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed Doctoral … Doctoral rural both in South Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 0.2% | — |
| 2013 | 0.3% | +47.7% |
| 2014 | 0.3% | +11.1% |
| 2015 | 0.3% | -4.7% |
| 2016 | 0.3% | -8.4% |
| 2017 | 0.2% | -13.2% |
| 2018 | 0.2% | +5.3% |
| 2019 | 0.3% | +3.0% |
| 2020 | 0.3% | +14.9% |
| 2021 | 0.3% | -10.1% |
| 2022 | 0.3% | +7.3% |
| 2023 | 0.4% | +34.5% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 0.4% is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.5%, 81% of the median. (29 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 8 |
| 2020s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 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 rate, completed doctoral or equivalent in South Korea?
- Educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent in South Korea was 0.4% in 2023, 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 0.4% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 2010.
- How does South Korea rank for educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent?
- South Korea ranks 20th out of 40 countries with data for 2023.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 36.1%. 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, rural, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release