Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower rural both in South Korea
South Korea: Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower rural both was 80.4% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Korea, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South 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 South Korea peaked at 80.4% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 13.8%, in 1970.
South 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 … lower rural both in South 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% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 80.4% is below the median for high income countries, which is 91.0%, 88% of the median. (39 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 80.4% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 66.0%, 1.2× the median. (11 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower rural both 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | +298.5% | 13.8% | 55.1% |
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 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 80.4% 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 80.4% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 13.8% in 1970.
- How does South Korea rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- South Korea ranks 41st out of 94 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 11.9%. 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, 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