Percentage of graduates from tertiary education … Services female in South Korea
South Korea: Percentage of graduates from tertiary education … Services female was 9.2% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in South Korea, 1998–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in South Korea is 9.2%, measured in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 3.8% on the previous year and down 4.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in South Korea peaked at 10.4% in 2017 and was at its lowest, 3.4%, in 1999.
South Korea ranks 8th of 122 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 21 years of available data.
Percentage of graduates from tertiary education … Services female in South Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 3.5% | — |
| 1999 | 3.4% | -1.6% |
| 2000 | 3.6% | +5.0% |
| 2001 | 3.8% | +5.6% |
| 2002 | 4.8% | +26.9% |
| 2003 | 6.5% | +34.8% |
| 2004 | 6.9% | +6.3% |
| 2006 | 5.3% | -23.6% |
| 2007 | 5.3% | -0.1% |
| 2008 | 5.3% | -0.7% |
| 2009 | 5.6% | +5.4% |
| 2011 | 5.7% | +3.3% |
| 2015 | 9.7% | +68.3% |
| 2016 | 9.6% | -0.4% |
| 2017 | 10.4% | +7.7% |
| 2019 | 10.2% | -1.4% |
| 2020 | 10.1% | -0.7% |
| 2021 | 10.0% | -1.3% |
| 2022 | 9.9% | -1.0% |
| 2023 | 9.6% | -3.3% |
| 2024 | 9.2% | -3.8% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 9.2% is above the median for high income countries, which is 2.9%, 3.2× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 9.2% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 3.1%, 3.0× the median. (15 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Percentage of graduates from tertiary education … Services female 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | +68.3% | 5.7% | 9.7% |
| 2003 | +34.8% | 4.8% | 6.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 3.5% | 3.4% | 3.5% | 2 |
| 2000s | 5.2% | 3.6% | 6.9% | 9 |
| 2010s | 9.1% | 5.7% | 10.4% | 5 |
| 2020s | 9.8% | 9.2% | 10.1% | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
- 5 Samoa 9.9% compare
- 6 Philippines 9.5% compare
- 7 Austria 9.5% compare
- 9 Seychelles 8.8% compare
- 10 El Salvador 8.5% compare
- 11 Serbia 8.2% compare
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 percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in South Korea?
- Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in South Korea was 9.2% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 10.4% in 2017.
- What is the lowest percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.4% in 1999.
- How does South Korea rank for percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from?
- South Korea ranks 8th out of 122 countries with data for 2024.
- Is percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.6%. 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 Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from Services programmes, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 21 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release