Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower rural male in South Korea
South Korea: Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower rural male was 88.8% 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 88.8%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 17 years on record.
The figure is up 0.9% on the previous year and up 7.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Korea peaked at 88.8% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 22.9%, in 1970.
South Korea ranks 35th 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 male in South Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 22.9% | — |
| 2000 | 66.9% | +191.4% |
| 2005 | 71.4% | +6.8% |
| 2009 | 70.2% | -1.7% |
| 2010 | 76.4% | +8.8% |
| 2013 | 81.1% | +6.2% |
| 2014 | 82.3% | +1.4% |
| 2015 | 82.3% | +0.1% |
| 2016 | 84.3% | +2.4% |
| 2017 | 84.4% | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 85.0% | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 85.5% | +0.6% |
| 2020 | 85.7% | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 86.2% | +0.6% |
| 2022 | 87.2% | +1.2% |
| 2023 | 88.0% | +0.9% |
| 2024 | 88.8% | +0.9% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 88.8% is below the median for high income countries, which is 92.3%, 96% of the median. (39 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 88.8% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 67.6%, 1.3× the median. (11 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower rural 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | +191.4% | 22.9% | 66.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 22.9% | 22.9% | 22.9% | 1 |
| 2000s | 69.5% | 66.9% | 71.4% | 3 |
| 2010s | 82.7% | 76.4% | 85.5% | 8 |
| 2020s | 87.2% | 85.7% | 88.8% | 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 88.8% 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 88.8% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 22.9% in 1970.
- How does South Korea rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- South Korea ranks 35th 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 7.9%. 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, male (%). 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