Share of children who have completed primary school in South Korea
South Korea: Share of children who have completed primary school was 100.0% in 2025. ▬ Flat
Share of children who have completed primary school in South Korea, 1981–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of children who have completed primary school in South Korea is 100.0%, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 45 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who have completed primary school in South Korea peaked at 100.0% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 99.7%, in 1981.
That places South Korea 1st out of 165 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 99.8% | 99.7% | 99.8% | 9 |
| 1990s | 99.9% | 99.8% | 99.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 99.9% | 99.9% | 99.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 100.0% | 99.9% | 100.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 6 |
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 children who have completed primary school in South Korea?
- Share of children who have completed primary school in South Korea was 100.0% in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of children who have completed primary school recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 100.0% in 2019.
- What is the lowest share of children who have completed primary school recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 99.7% in 1981.
- How does South Korea rank for share of children who have completed primary school?
- South Korea ranks 1st out of 165 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of children who have completed primary school rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of children who have completed primary school. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 45 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The share of children who are three to five years older than the official age for the last grade of primary education who have successfully completed it. This broader age band is used to include children who started school late or had to resit particular years.