Educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in Republic of Korea
Republic of Korea: Educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher was 98.5% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in Republic of Korea, 2000–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Republic of Korea recorded 98.5% for educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in 2024. That is the highest value across all 17 years on record.
The figure is up 0.1% on the previous year and up 0.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in Republic of Korea peaked at 98.5% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 84.5%, in 2002.
Republic of Korea ranks 39th of 106 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 primary education or higher in Republic of Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 94.6% | — |
| 2002 | 84.5% | -10.7% |
| 2005 | 95.5% | +13.0% |
| 2009 | 94.2% | -1.4% |
| 2010 | 96.2% | +2.1% |
| 2013 | 97.5% | +1.4% |
| 2014 | 97.6% | +0.2% |
| 2015 | 96.9% | -0.8% |
| 2016 | 97.8% | +0.9% |
| 2017 | 97.8% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 98.0% | +0.1% |
| 2019 | 98.0% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 98.0% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 98.1% | +0.1% |
| 2022 | 98.2% | +0.1% |
| 2023 | 98.4% | +0.2% |
| 2024 | 98.5% | +0.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 92.2% | 84.5% | 95.5% | 4 |
| 2010s | 97.5% | 96.2% | 98.0% | 8 |
| 2020s | 98.2% | 98.0% | 98.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Republic of Korea
More education data for Republic of 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 primary education or higher in Republic of Korea?
- Educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in Republic of Korea was 98.5% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher recorded in Republic of Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 98.5% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher recorded in Republic of Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 84.5% in 2002.
- How does Republic of Korea rank for educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher?
- Republic of Korea ranks 39th out of 106 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher rising or falling in Republic of Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Republic of 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, urban, 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