Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Korea
Korea: Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education was 49.6% in 2024. β² Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Korea, 1970β2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Korea recorded 49.6% for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in 2024. That is the highest value across all 27 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.9% on the previous year and up 17.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Korea peaked at 49.6% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 5.7%, in 1970.
That places Korea 7th out of 129 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 27 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 6.3% | 5.7% | 6.9% | 2 |
| 1980s | 10.3% | 8.9% | 11.7% | 2 |
| 1990s | 17.1% | 13.4% | 20.8% | 2 |
| 2000s | 30.3% | 24.1% | 34.7% | 6 |
| 2010s | 41.8% | 35.3% | 46.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 47.8% | 46.5% | 49.6% | 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)
- School enrollment, primary 100.9% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, per capita 0.0033 units per person (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 49.6% 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 49.6% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.7% in 1970.
- How does Korea rank for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education?
- Korea ranks 7th out of 129 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 17.1%. 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, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV Β· JSON β 27 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release