Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Korea
Korea: Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or was 80.4% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in 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 Korea is 80.4%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 17 years on record.
The figure is up 1.4% on the previous year and up 11.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Korea peaked at 80.4% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 13.8%, in 1970.
Korea ranks 41st 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 secondary education or in Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 13.8% | — |
| 2000 | 55.1% | +298.5% |
| 2005 | 59.9% | +8.7% |
| 2009 | 58.0% | -3.2% |
| 2010 | 65.6% | +13.2% |
| 2013 | 70.2% | +7.0% |
| 2014 | 71.8% | +2.2% |
| 2015 | 72.4% | +0.9% |
| 2016 | 74.2% | +2.5% |
| 2017 | 74.6% | +0.5% |
| 2018 | 75.1% | +0.7% |
| 2019 | 75.8% | +0.9% |
| 2020 | 76.1% | +0.5% |
| 2021 | 77.0% | +1.1% |
| 2022 | 78.0% | +1.2% |
| 2023 | 79.2% | +1.6% |
| 2024 | 80.4% | +1.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 13.8% | 13.8% | 13.8% | 1 |
| 2000s | 57.7% | 55.1% | 59.9% | 3 |
| 2010s | 72.5% | 65.6% | 75.8% | 8 |
| 2020s | 78.1% | 76.1% | 80.4% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Korea
More education data for 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 Korea?
- Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Korea was 80.4% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 80.4% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 13.8% in 1970.
- How does Korea rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- Korea ranks 41st out of 94 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or rising or falling in Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 11.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this 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, both sexes (%). 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