Share of the population with at least some formal education in South Korea
South Korea: Share of the population with at least some formal education was 99.7% in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Share of the population with at least some formal education in South Korea, 1870–2020
Source: Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, share of the population with at least some formal education in South Korea stood at 99.7%. That is the highest value across all 31 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population with at least some formal education in South Korea peaked at 99.7% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 1870.
That places South Korea 9th out of 111 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top 10%.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| 1880s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| 1890s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| 1900s | 8.3% | 5.6% | 11.1% | 2 |
| 1910s | 20.2% | 15.3% | 25.1% | 2 |
| 1920s | 36.2% | 32.7% | 39.7% | 2 |
| 1930s | 50.2% | 46.6% | 53.8% | 2 |
| 1940s | 62.5% | 59.9% | 65.2% | 2 |
| 1950s | 76.9% | 74.1% | 79.8% | 2 |
| 1960s | 66.3% | 60.6% | 72.1% | 2 |
| 1970s | 82.7% | 79.3% | 86.0% | 2 |
| 1980s | 91.0% | 90.0% | 92.0% | 2 |
| 1990s | 96.2% | 95.2% | 97.3% | 2 |
| 2000s | 98.2% | 97.9% | 98.6% | 2 |
| 2010s | 99.4% | 99.3% | 99.6% | 2 |
| 2020s | 99.7% | 99.7% | 99.7% | 1 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More education data for South Korea
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (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 173,133 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 0.734 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 100.8% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population with at least some formal education in South Korea?
- Share of the population with at least some formal education in South Korea was 99.7% in 2020, according to Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 99.7% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 1870.
- How does South Korea rank for share of the population with at least some formal education?
- South Korea ranks 9th out of 111 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of the population with at least some formal education rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of the population with at least some formal education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Based on the population aged 15 years and older.