Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Korea
Korea: Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education was 58.1% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Korea, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Korea stood at 58.1%. That is the highest value across all 19 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.5% on the previous year and up 10.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Korea peaked at 58.1% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 18.9%, in 1970.
That places Korea 3rd out of 102 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 19 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 18.9% | 18.9% | 18.9% | 1 |
| 2000s | 35.0% | 29.5% | 42.9% | 5 |
| 2010s | 52.0% | 44.3% | 55.5% | 8 |
| 2020s | 56.7% | 55.8% | 58.1% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Korea
More education data for 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 short-cycle tertiary education in Korea?
- Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Korea was 58.1% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 58.1% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 18.9% in 1970.
- How does Korea rank for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education?
- Korea ranks 3rd out of 102 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education rising or falling in Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 10.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Korea data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education or higher, population 25+ years, urban, male (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 19 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release