What is the highest productivity vs. educational attainment recorded in South Korea?

The highest recorded value was 54.24 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour in 2022.

What is the lowest productivity vs. educational attainment recorded in South Korea?

The lowest recorded value was 1.67 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour in 1953.

How does South Korea rank for productivity vs. educational attainment?

South Korea ranks 25th out of 130 countries with data for 2023.

Is productivity vs. educational attainment rising or falling in South Korea?

Over the last ten years it is up 39.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.

Where does this South Korea data come from?

The figures come from Feenstra et al. - Penn World Table (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Productivity vs. educational attainment. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Productivity vs. educational attainment in South Korea

Name: Productivity vs. educational attainment in South Korea
Creator: Feenstra et al. - Penn World Table (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

South Korea: Productivity vs. educational attainment was 53.61 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour in 2023. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2023)

53.61 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour

Change on year

down 1.2%

World rank

25th

of 130 countries

All-time high

54.24 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour

in 2022

All-time low

1.67 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour

in 1953

Years of data

1953–2023

Productivity vs. educational attainment in South Korea, 1953–2023

Source: Feenstra et al. - Penn World Table (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in international-$ in 2021 prices per hour.

Analysis

South Korea recorded 53.61 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour for productivity vs. educational attainment in 2023.

The figure is down 1.2% on the previous year and up 39.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, productivity vs. educational attainment in South Korea peaked at 54.24 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour in 2022 and was at its lowest, 1.67 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour, in 1953.

South Korea ranks 25th of 130 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1950s	1.81 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	1.67 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	1.9 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	7
1960s	2.07 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	1.77 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	2.54 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	10
1970s	4.63 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	2.81 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	6.19 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	10
1980s	8.4 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	5.87 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	12.47 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	10
1990s	19.86 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	13.93 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	24.5 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	10
2000s	31.72 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	25.21 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	37.67 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	10
2010s	42.53 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	38.42 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	49.54 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	10
2020s	53.35 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	51.98 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	54.24 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour	4

Countries ranked near South Korea

22 Taiwan 60.85 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour compare
23 Saudi Arabia 59.88 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour compare
24 Turkey 56.52 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour compare
26 Bahrain 52.47 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour compare
27 United Arab Emirates 52.13 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour compare
28 Hong Kong 51.52 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour compare

See the full ranking of 130 places →

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)

All data for South Korea →

Frequently asked questions

What is productivity vs. educational attainment in South Korea?: Productivity vs. educational attainment in South Korea was 53.61 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour in 2023, according to Feenstra et al. - Penn World Table (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest productivity vs. educational attainment recorded in South Korea?: The highest recorded value was 54.24 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour in 2022.
What is the lowest productivity vs. educational attainment recorded in South Korea?: The lowest recorded value was 1.67 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour in 1953.
How does South Korea rank for productivity vs. educational attainment?: South Korea ranks 25th out of 130 countries with data for 2023.
Is productivity vs. educational attainment rising or falling in South Korea?: Over the last ten years it is up 39.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this South Korea data come from?: The figures come from Feenstra et al. - Penn World Table (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Productivity vs. educational attainment. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 71 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator: Productivity vs. educational attainment
Unit: international-$ in 2021 prices per hour
Source: Feenstra et al. - Penn World Table (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 130 places, 4,965 data points, 1950–2023
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Productivity is calculated as GDP divided by the total number of hours worked in the economy. This data is adjusted for inflation and differences in living costs between countries.