Educational attainment rate, completed primary … primary gender in South Korea
South Korea: Educational attainment rate, completed primary … primary gender was 0.9705 GPIA in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in South Korea, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in GPIA.
Analysis
The most recent figure for educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in South Korea is 0.9705 GPIA, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 26 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.2% on the previous year and up 1.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in South Korea peaked at 0.9705 GPIA in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.7171 GPIA, in 1970.
That places South Korea 86th out of 134 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed primary … primary gender in South Korea, year by year
| Year | GPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 0.7171 GPIA | — |
| 1985 | 0.8539 GPIA | +19.1% |
| 1990 | 0.8801 GPIA | +3.1% |
| 1995 | 0.8865 GPIA | +0.7% |
| 2000 | 0.9079 GPIA | +2.4% |
| 2004 | 0.9216 GPIA | +1.5% |
| 2005 | 0.9245 GPIA | +0.3% |
| 2006 | 0.9288 GPIA | +0.5% |
| 2007 | 0.9318 GPIA | +0.3% |
| 2008 | 0.9351 GPIA | +0.3% |
| 2009 | 0.8961 GPIA | -4.2% |
| 2010 | 0.9349 GPIA | +4.3% |
| 2011 | 0.9421 GPIA | +0.8% |
| 2012 | 0.9454 GPIA | +0.3% |
| 2013 | 0.9488 GPIA | +0.4% |
| 2014 | 0.9531 GPIA | +0.5% |
| 2015 | 0.9443 GPIA | -0.9% |
| 2016 | 0.957 GPIA | +1.3% |
| 2017 | 0.9572 GPIA | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 0.958 GPIA | +0.1% |
| 2019 | 0.9589 GPIA | +0.1% |
| 2020 | 0.9605 GPIA | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 0.9643 GPIA | +0.4% |
| 2022 | 0.9662 GPIA | +0.2% |
| 2023 | 0.969 GPIA | +0.3% |
| 2024 | 0.9705 GPIA | +0.2% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 0.9705 GPIA is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.9992 GPIA, 97% of the median. (57 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 0.9705 GPIA is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.9741 GPIA, 100% of the median. (17 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.7171 GPIA | 0.7171 GPIA | 0.7171 GPIA | 1 |
| 1980s | 0.8539 GPIA | 0.8539 GPIA | 0.8539 GPIA | 1 |
| 1990s | 0.8833 GPIA | 0.8801 GPIA | 0.8865 GPIA | 2 |
| 2000s | 0.9208 GPIA | 0.8961 GPIA | 0.9351 GPIA | 7 |
| 2010s | 0.95 GPIA | 0.9349 GPIA | 0.9589 GPIA | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.9661 GPIA | 0.9605 GPIA | 0.9705 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 primary education or higher in South Korea?
- Educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in South Korea was 0.9705 GPIA in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 0.9705 GPIA in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.7171 GPIA in 1970.
- How does South Korea rank for educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher?
- South Korea ranks 86th out of 134 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.8%. 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 primary education or higher, population 25+ years, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release