Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary … lower female in South Korea
South Korea: Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary … lower female was 85.6% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Korea, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
South Korea recorded 85.6% for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in 2024. That is the highest value across all 28 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.6% on the previous year and up 6.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Korea peaked at 85.6% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 15.9%, in 1970.
South Korea ranks 53rd of 132 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 28 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary … lower female in South Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 15.9% | — |
| 1975 | 23.4% | +47.3% |
| 1980 | 33.6% | +43.7% |
| 1990 | 57.5% | +71.0% |
| 1995 | 63.0% | +9.5% |
| 2000 | 69.6% | +10.5% |
| 2003 | 72.2% | +3.8% |
| 2004 | 73.0% | +1.1% |
| 2005 | 74.1% | +1.5% |
| 2006 | 74.9% | +1.1% |
| 2007 | 75.8% | +1.2% |
| 2008 | 76.4% | +0.9% |
| 2009 | 71.0% | -7.1% |
| 2010 | 77.1% | +8.5% |
| 2011 | 77.8% | +1.0% |
| 2012 | 78.6% | +1.0% |
| 2013 | 79.4% | +1.0% |
| 2014 | 80.3% | +1.2% |
| 2015 | 80.3% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 81.8% | +1.8% |
| 2017 | 82.2% | +0.5% |
| 2018 | 82.4% | +0.3% |
| 2019 | 82.8% | +0.4% |
| 2020 | 83.1% | +0.4% |
| 2021 | 83.7% | +0.7% |
| 2022 | 84.1% | +0.4% |
| 2023 | 85.0% | +1.2% |
| 2024 | 85.6% | +0.6% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 85.6% is below the median for high income countries, which is 91.6%, 93% of the median. (53 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 85.6% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 79.0%, 1.1× the median. (17 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary … lower 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | +71.0% | 33.6% | 57.5% |
| 1975 | +47.3% | 15.9% | 23.4% |
| 1980 | +43.7% | 23.4% | 33.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 19.6% | 15.9% | 23.4% | 2 |
| 1980s | 33.6% | 33.6% | 33.6% | 1 |
| 1990s | 60.2% | 57.5% | 63.0% | 2 |
| 2000s | 73.4% | 69.6% | 76.4% | 8 |
| 2010s | 80.3% | 77.1% | 82.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 84.3% | 83.1% | 85.6% | 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 85.6% 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 85.6% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 15.9% in 1970.
- How does South Korea rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- South Korea ranks 53rd out of 132 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 6.5%. 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, female (%). 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