Educational attainment rate, completed Master's … Master urban both in South Korea
South Korea: Educational attainment rate, completed Master's … Master urban both was 5.6% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed Master's or equivalent in South Korea, 2010–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent in South Korea stood at 5.6%. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
The figure is up 4.1% on the previous year and up 19.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent in South Korea peaked at 5.6% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 4.0%, in 2010.
South Korea ranks 40th of 67 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 13 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed Master's … Master urban both in South Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 4.0% | — |
| 2013 | 4.4% | +10.4% |
| 2014 | 4.7% | +6.0% |
| 2015 | 5.0% | +6.2% |
| 2016 | 4.9% | -0.9% |
| 2017 | 5.0% | +1.8% |
| 2018 | 5.2% | +3.4% |
| 2019 | 5.2% | -0.5% |
| 2020 | 5.1% | -2.5% |
| 2021 | 5.0% | -1.8% |
| 2022 | 5.1% | +3.1% |
| 2023 | 5.4% | +5.7% |
| 2024 | 5.6% | +4.1% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 5.6% is below the median for high income countries, which is 16.7%, 34% of the median. (37 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 5.6% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 3.2%, 1.8× the median. (9 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 4.8% | 4.0% | 5.2% | 8 |
| 2020s | 5.2% | 5.0% | 5.6% | 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 master's or equivalent in South Korea?
- Educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent in South Korea was 5.6% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 5.6% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.0% in 2010.
- How does South Korea rank for educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent?
- South Korea ranks 40th out of 67 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 19.6%. 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 Master's or equivalent education or higher, population 25+ years, urban, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 13 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release