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Education · East Asia & Pacific · High income
South Korea: education in numbers
Pre-primary enrolment is 91.8% (2020), 54th of 176 in the world and 8th of 30 in East Asia & Pacific. Primary enrolment is 100.9% (2024), 90th of 191 in the world and 14th of 30 in East Asia & Pacific. Primary completion is 102.9% (2024), 21st of 168 in the world and 5th of 26 in East Asia & Pacific.
Pre-primary enrolment
South KoreaEast Asia & PacificHigh incomeWorld
Primary enrolment
South KoreaEast Asia & PacificHigh incomeWorld
11 indicators
Education: South Korea in detail
Latest reported value, world rank and rank within East Asia & Pacific; values around 2000, 2010, 2020; group and world columns are World Bank aggregates.
| Indicator | Latest | World rank | In region | ~2000 | ~2010 | ~2020 | 10-year change | Region | Income group | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-primary enrolmentPre-primary enrolment, % gross | 91.8%2020 | 54/176 | 8/30 | · | · | 91.8% | +5.3 ppsince 1996 | 83.2% | 83.8% | 60.9% | |
| Primary enrolmentPrimary school enrolment, % gross | 100.9%2024 | 90/191 | 14/30 | 99.0% | 100.8% | 99.2% | +1.4 ppsince 2014 | 100.0% | 99.8% | 102.2% | |
| Primary completionPrimary completion rate, % of age group | 102.9%2024 | 21/168 | 5/26 | 100.3% | 101.5% | 101.2% | +4.6 ppsince 2014 | 95.4% | 97.8% | 88.0% | |
| Secondary enrolmentSecondary school enrolment, % gross | 96.3%2024 | 76/176 | 10/26 | 98.1% | 97.3% | 97.1% | −2.3 ppsince 2014 | 92.0% | 103.2% | 77.3% | |
| Lower secondary completionLower secondary completion rate, % of age group | 97.3%2024 | 48/168 | 10/26 | 100.5% | 99.2% | 96.1% | +1.0 ppsince 2014 | 97.3% | 95.6% | 77.9% | |
| Tertiary enrolmentTertiary enrolment, % gross | 111.9%2024 | 5/172 | 3/27 | 74.7% | 101.7% | 96.9% | +17.4 ppsince 2014 | 63.3% | 82.0% | 43.6% | |
| Out-of-school childrenChildren out of school, % of primary school age | 0.1%2024 | 175/178 | 29/29 | 2.4% | 0.1% | 1.4% | −2.9 ppsince 2014 | — | 2.5% | — | |
| Adult literacyAdult literacy rate, % of people 15+ | 98.0%2008 | — | — | · | 98.0%2008 | · | — | 96.6% | 97.7% | 87.7% | |
| Youth literacyYouth literacy rate, % of people 15–24 | 99.9%2008 | — | — | · | 99.9%2008 | · | — | 99.1% | 99.3% | 93.1% | |
| Pupils per teacherPupils per teacher, primary | 16.32017 | 102/173 | 19/27 | 32.1 | 20.9 | · | −36%since 2007 | 17.5 | 14.0 | 23.4 | |
| Education spendingPublic spending on education, % of GDP | 5.4%2022 | 42/184 | 9/29 | 3.3%1999 | · | 4.5% | +2.2 ppsince 1999 | 3.5% | 4.7% | 3.6% |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)“·” — no value reported within two years of that date. World rank counts countries with a recent value.
Better than ten years ago
- Pre-primary enrolment+5.3 pp91.8% in 2020
- Primary completion+4.6 pp102.9% in 2024
- Lower secondary completion+1.0 pp97.3% in 2024
- Tertiary enrolment+17.4 pp111.9% in 2024
Worse than ten years ago
- Secondary enrolment−2.3 pp96.3% in 2024
Only indicators where higher or lower is clearly better are rated (for example, unemployment down is better, life expectancy up is better).
neighbours
South Korea and its neighbours
Countries sharing a land border with South Korea. Latest values since 2005; the highest in each row is marked.
| Indicator | South Korea | China | Japan | North Korea |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-primary enrolment | 91.8%2020 | 93.1%2021 | 86.7%2015 | — |
| Primary enrolment | 100.9%2024 | 99.6%2024 | 101.1%2023 | 92.1%2018 |
| Primary completion | 102.9%2024 | 103.5%2010 | — | 97.1%2009 |
| Secondary enrolment | 96.3%2024 | 92.3%2012 | 101.5%2023 | 94.3%2015 |
| Lower secondary completion | 97.3%2024 | 103.6%2012 | — | — |
| Tertiary enrolment | 111.9%2024 | 76.9%2024 | 64.5%2023 | 26.7%2018 |
| Out-of-school children | 0.1%2024 | — | 0.1%2023 | 0.5%2009 |
| Adult literacy | 98.0%2008 | 96.7%2020 | — | 100.0%2008 |
| Youth literacy | 99.9%2008 | 99.8%2020 | — | 100.0%2008 |