Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower rural female in South Korea
South Korea: Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower rural female was 71.6% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Korea, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Korea is 71.6%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 17 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.0% on the previous year and up 16.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Korea peaked at 71.6% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 5.6%, in 1970.
South Korea ranks 45th of 94 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 17 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower rural female in South Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 5.6% | — |
| 2000 | 44.3% | +686.5% |
| 2005 | 49.6% | +11.9% |
| 2009 | 47.6% | -4.1% |
| 2010 | 55.6% | +16.8% |
| 2013 | 59.4% | +6.9% |
| 2014 | 61.4% | +3.3% |
| 2015 | 62.7% | +2.1% |
| 2016 | 64.1% | +2.3% |
| 2017 | 64.6% | +0.8% |
| 2018 | 65.1% | +0.8% |
| 2019 | 65.9% | +1.2% |
| 2020 | 66.3% | +0.7% |
| 2021 | 67.5% | +1.8% |
| 2022 | 68.4% | +1.3% |
| 2023 | 70.2% | +2.6% |
| 2024 | 71.6% | +2.0% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 71.6% is below the median for high income countries, which is 90.7%, 79% of the median. (39 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 71.6% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 64.2%, 1.1× the median. (11 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower rural female 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 | +686.5% | 5.6% | 44.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 5.6% | 5.6% | 5.6% | 1 |
| 2000s | 47.2% | 44.3% | 49.6% | 3 |
| 2010s | 62.3% | 55.6% | 65.9% | 8 |
| 2020s | 68.8% | 66.3% | 71.6% | 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 lower secondary education or in South Korea?
- Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Korea was 71.6% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 71.6% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.6% in 1970.
- How does South Korea rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- South Korea ranks 45th out of 94 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 16.6%. 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 lower secondary education or higher, population 25+ years, rural, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release