Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary … lower male in South Korea
South Korea: Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary … lower male was 94.4% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Korea, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South 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 South Korea peaked at 94.4% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 40.2%, in 1970.
That places South Korea 31st out of 133 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 … lower male in South 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% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 94.4% is above the median for high income countries, which is 92.6%, 1.0× the median. (53 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 94.4% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 84.1%, 1.1× the median. (17 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary … lower male 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | +31.9% | 58.8% | 77.6% |
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 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 94.4% 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 94.4% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 40.2% in 1970.
- How does South Korea rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- South Korea ranks 31st out of 133 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 2.7%. 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, 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