Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper male in South Korea
South Korea: Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper male was 87.0% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in South Korea, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in South Korea is 87.0%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 30 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.5% on the previous year and up 4.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in South Korea peaked at 87.0% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 24.6%, in 1970.
South Korea ranks 16th of 140 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 30 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper male in South Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 24.6% | — |
| 1980 | 39.1% | +58.6% |
| 1985 | 68.7% | +75.7% |
| 1990 | 60.1% | -12.4% |
| 1995 | 67.1% | +11.6% |
| 2000 | 72.6% | +8.1% |
| 2001 | 74.6% | +2.8% |
| 2002 | 75.3% | +0.9% |
| 2003 | 75.9% | +0.8% |
| 2004 | 76.7% | +1.1% |
| 2005 | 77.2% | +0.7% |
| 2006 | 78.4% | +1.4% |
| 2007 | 79.2% | +1.0% |
| 2008 | 79.6% | +0.6% |
| 2009 | 74.2% | -6.8% |
| 2010 | 79.6% | +7.3% |
| 2011 | 81.0% | +1.7% |
| 2012 | 81.7% | +0.9% |
| 2013 | 82.2% | +0.6% |
| 2014 | 83.1% | +1.1% |
| 2015 | 82.7% | -0.4% |
| 2016 | 83.9% | +1.4% |
| 2017 | 84.1% | +0.3% |
| 2018 | 84.4% | +0.3% |
| 2019 | 84.7% | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 84.9% | +0.3% |
| 2021 | 85.3% | +0.5% |
| 2022 | 85.7% | +0.4% |
| 2023 | 86.5% | +1.0% |
| 2024 | 87.0% | +0.5% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 87.0% is above the median for high income countries, which is 79.7%, 1.1× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 87.0% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 58.5%, 1.5× the median. (20 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary … upper male in South Korea changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | +75.7% | 39.1% | 68.7% |
| 1980 | +58.6% | 24.6% | 39.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 24.6% | 24.6% | 24.6% | 1 |
| 1980s | 53.9% | 39.1% | 68.7% | 2 |
| 1990s | 63.6% | 60.1% | 67.1% | 2 |
| 2000s | 76.4% | 72.6% | 79.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 82.7% | 79.6% | 84.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 85.9% | 84.9% | 87.0% | 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 upper secondary education or in South Korea?
- Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in South Korea was 87.0% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 87.0% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 24.6% in 1970.
- How does South Korea rank for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or?
- South Korea ranks 16th out of 140 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.7%. 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 upper secondary education or higher, population 25+ years, male (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 30 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release