Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Korea
Korea: Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary was 5.5% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Korea, 2013–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Korea recorded 5.5% for out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.9% on the previous year and up 5.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Korea peaked at 10.3% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 2.7%, in 2018.
That places Korea 117th out of 179 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 12 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 8.0% | — |
| 2014 | 5.2% | -35.4% |
| 2015 | 7.3% | +40.9% |
| 2016 | 9.5% | +30.8% |
| 2017 | 7.0% | -26.9% |
| 2018 | 2.7% | -61.8% |
| 2019 | 7.3% | +172.7% |
| 2020 | 10.3% | +41.5% |
| 2021 | 6.8% | -33.7% |
| 2022 | 3.3% | -51.9% |
| 2023 | 5.2% | +59.4% |
| 2024 | 5.5% | +4.9% |
Korea compared with similar countries
- Korea's 5.5% is above the median for high income countries, which is 4.8%, 1.1× the median. (70 countries reporting)
- Korea's 5.5% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 13.0%, 42% of the median. (28 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 6.7% | 2.7% | 9.5% | 7 |
| 2020s | 6.2% | 3.3% | 10.3% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Korea
More education data for Korea
- 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)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0484 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Korea?
- Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary in Korea was 5.5% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary recorded in Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 10.3% in 2020.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary recorded in Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.7% in 2018.
- How does Korea rank for out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary?
- Korea ranks 117th out of 179 countries with data for 2024.
- Is out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary rising or falling in Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Korea data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school rate for children one year before the official primary entry age, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release