Number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of
Korea, Democratic People's Republic of: Number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education was 11 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
11
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
47th
of 214 countries
All-time high
11
in 2014
All-time low
10
in 1975
Years of data
51
1975–2025
Number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of, 1975–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Analysis
In 2025, number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of stood at 11. That is the highest value across all 51 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of peaked at 11 in 2014 and was at its lowest, 10, in 1975.
That places Korea, Democratic People's Republic of 47th out of 214 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 51 years of available data.
Number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 10 | — |
| 1976 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 11 | +10.0% |
| 2015 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 11 | +0.0% |
Korea, Democratic People's Republic of compared with similar countries
- Korea, Democratic People's Republic of's 11 is above the median for low income countries, which is 8, 1.4× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Korea, Democratic People's Republic of's 11 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 9, 1.2× the median. (33 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 10 | 10 | 10 | 5 |
| 1980s | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 1990s | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 2000s | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 2010s | 10.6 | 10 | 11 | 10 |
| 2020s | 11 | 11 | 11 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Korea, Democratic People's Republic of
- 47 Aruba 11 compare
- 47 Antigua and Barbuda 11 compare
- 47 Australia 11 compare
- 47 Belarus 11 compare
- 47 Barbados 11 compare
- 47 Colombia 11 compare
- 47 Costa Rica 11 compare
- 47 Cayman Islands 11 compare
- 47 Finland 11 compare
- 47 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 11 compare
- 47 Honduras 11 compare
- 47 Sri Lanka 11 compare
- 47 Monaco 11 compare
- 47 Malta 11 compare
- 47 Niue 11 compare
- 47 Peru 11 compare
- 47 Russian Federation 11 compare
- 47 Senegal 11 compare
- 47 Sint Maarten (Dutch part) 11 compare
- 47 Seychelles 11 compare
- 47 Turks and Caicos Islands 11 compare
- 47 Tokelau 11 compare
- 47 Ukraine 11 compare
- 47 Uzbekistan 11 compare
- 47 Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of 11 compare
More education data for Korea, Democratic People's Republic of
- Theoretical duration of lower secondary education (years), annual 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of primary education (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of pre-primary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (pre-primary to post-secondary non) 0.0494 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), gaps filled 2,021 tertiary education (2022)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), annual growth 0.0495 % change on previous year (2022)
- Theoretical duration of secondary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of?
- Number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of was 11 in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education recorded in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of?
- The highest recorded value was 11 in 2014.
- What is the lowest number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education recorded in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of?
- The lowest recorded value was 10 in 1975.
- How does Korea, Democratic People's Republic of rank for number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education?
- Korea, Democratic People's Republic of ranks 47th out of 214 countries with data for 2025.
- Is number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education rising or falling in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Korea, Democratic People's Republic of data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education guaranteed in legal frameworks. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 51 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release