Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary … lower gender in South Korea
South Korea: Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary … lower gender was 0.9063 GPIA in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Korea, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in GPIA.
Analysis
In 2024, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Korea stood at 0.9063 GPIA. That is the highest value across all 28 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and up 3.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Korea peaked at 0.9063 GPIA in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.395 GPIA, in 1970.
South Korea ranks 87th 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 gender in South Korea, year by year
| Year | GPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 0.395 GPIA | — |
| 1975 | 0.4813 GPIA | +21.9% |
| 1980 | 0.5719 GPIA | +18.8% |
| 1990 | 0.7412 GPIA | +29.6% |
| 1995 | 0.7742 GPIA | +4.5% |
| 2000 | 0.8195 GPIA | +5.8% |
| 2003 | 0.8247 GPIA | +0.6% |
| 2004 | 0.8269 GPIA | +0.3% |
| 2005 | 0.8467 GPIA | +2.4% |
| 2006 | 0.8382 GPIA | -1.0% |
| 2007 | 0.8453 GPIA | +0.8% |
| 2008 | 0.8517 GPIA | +0.8% |
| 2009 | 0.8298 GPIA | -2.6% |
| 2010 | 0.8646 GPIA | +4.2% |
| 2011 | 0.8579 GPIA | -0.8% |
| 2012 | 0.8619 GPIA | +0.5% |
| 2013 | 0.8688 GPIA | +0.8% |
| 2014 | 0.874 GPIA | +0.6% |
| 2015 | 0.88 GPIA | +0.7% |
| 2016 | 0.8831 GPIA | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 0.8867 GPIA | +0.4% |
| 2018 | 0.8871 GPIA | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 0.8885 GPIA | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 0.8912 GPIA | +0.3% |
| 2021 | 0.8953 GPIA | +0.5% |
| 2022 | 0.8969 GPIA | +0.2% |
| 2023 | 0.9027 GPIA | +0.7% |
| 2024 | 0.9063 GPIA | +0.4% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 0.9063 GPIA is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.9935 GPIA, 91% of the median. (53 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 0.9063 GPIA is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.9451 GPIA, 96% of the median. (17 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary … lower gender 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 | +29.6% | 0.5719 GPIA | 0.7412 GPIA |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.4381 GPIA | 0.395 GPIA | 0.4813 GPIA | 2 |
| 1980s | 0.5719 GPIA | 0.5719 GPIA | 0.5719 GPIA | 1 |
| 1990s | 0.7577 GPIA | 0.7412 GPIA | 0.7742 GPIA | 2 |
| 2000s | 0.8353 GPIA | 0.8195 GPIA | 0.8517 GPIA | 8 |
| 2010s | 0.8753 GPIA | 0.8579 GPIA | 0.8885 GPIA | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.8985 GPIA | 0.8912 GPIA | 0.9063 GPIA | 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 0.9063 GPIA 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 0.9063 GPIA in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.395 GPIA in 1970.
- How does South Korea rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- South Korea ranks 87th 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 3.7%. 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, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA). 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