Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Republic of Korea
Republic of Korea: Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or was 94.4% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Republic of Korea, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Republic of Korea stood at 94.4%. That is the highest value across all 28 years on record.
The figure is up 0.2% on the previous year and up 2.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Republic of Korea peaked at 94.4% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 40.2%, in 1970.
That places Republic of Korea 31st out of 132 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 28 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Republic of Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 40.2% | — |
| 1975 | 48.6% | +20.9% |
| 1980 | 58.8% | +21.0% |
| 1990 | 77.6% | +31.9% |
| 1995 | 81.4% | +4.9% |
| 2000 | 84.9% | +4.4% |
| 2003 | 87.5% | +3.1% |
| 2004 | 88.2% | +0.8% |
| 2005 | 87.5% | -0.9% |
| 2006 | 89.3% | +2.1% |
| 2007 | 89.6% | +0.4% |
| 2008 | 89.7% | +0.1% |
| 2009 | 85.5% | -4.7% |
| 2010 | 89.1% | +4.2% |
| 2011 | 90.7% | +1.8% |
| 2012 | 91.2% | +0.5% |
| 2013 | 91.4% | +0.2% |
| 2014 | 91.9% | +0.6% |
| 2015 | 91.3% | -0.7% |
| 2016 | 92.6% | +1.5% |
| 2017 | 92.7% | +0.1% |
| 2018 | 92.9% | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 93.1% | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 93.2% | +0.1% |
| 2021 | 93.5% | +0.3% |
| 2022 | 93.7% | +0.3% |
| 2023 | 94.2% | +0.5% |
| 2024 | 94.4% | +0.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 44.4% | 40.2% | 48.6% | 2 |
| 1980s | 58.8% | 58.8% | 58.8% | 1 |
| 1990s | 79.5% | 77.6% | 81.4% | 2 |
| 2000s | 87.8% | 84.9% | 89.7% | 8 |
| 2010s | 91.7% | 89.1% | 93.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 93.8% | 93.2% | 94.4% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Republic of Korea
More education data for Republic of Korea
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 173,133 (2024)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 69.5% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 10.2% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- Primary secondary enrollment completion rates, gaps filled 100.87 (2024)
- School enrollment, primary 100.9% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Republic of Korea?
- Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Republic of Korea was 94.4% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in Republic of Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 94.4% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in Republic of Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 40.2% in 1970.
- How does Republic of Korea rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- Republic of Korea ranks 31st out of 132 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or rising or falling in Republic of Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Republic of 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, male (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 28 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release