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Number of Schools

Pre-primary, Primary and Secondary Education

(Unit : Person)

Pre-primary, Primary and Secondary Education:Classification, Number of Schools(2021, 2022, 2023(Total, National, Public, Private))
Classification Number of Schools
2021 2022 2023
Total National Public Private
Kindergarten 8,660 8,562 8,441 3 5,130 3,308
Elementary School 6,157 6,163 6,175 17 6,085 73
Middle School 3,245 3,258 3,265 9 2,624 632
High School Subtotal 2,375 2,373 2,379 19 1,415 945
General 1,616 1,645 1,666 11 1,003 652
Special-
purposed		 161 161 162 8 119 35
Specialized 488 487 487 - 262 225
Autonomous 110 80 64 - 31 33
Special School 187 192 194 5 99 90
Civic High School 3 3 3 - 1 2
Trade High School 7 7 6 - - 6
Miscellaneous School 72 72 76 2 38 36
Open Middle School 24 24 24 - 24 -
Open High School 42 42 42 - 42 -
Total 20,772 20,696 20,605 55 15,458 5,092

The number of schools includes all new and existing schools, but not closed schools and branch schools

Higher Education

(Unit : Schools)

B. Higher Education:Classification, Number of Schools(2021, 2022, 2023(Total, National, Public, Private))
Classification Number of Schools
2021 2022 2023
Total National Public Private
Junior college / under-graduate level University 190 190 190 34 1 155
Univ. of Education 10 10 10 10 - -
Industrial University 2 2 2 - - 2
Junior College 134 134 133 1 7 125
Open University 1 1 1 1 - -
Cyber University 19 19 19 - - 19
Technical College 1 1 1 - - 1
Miscellaneous School 2 2 2 1 - 1
Specialized College 3 3 3 - - 3
Distance University* 2 2 2 - - 2
College in the Company* 8 8 8 - - 8
Polytechnic College 9 9 9 - - 9
Subtotal 381 381 380 47 8 325
Graduate School Graduate School College 45 45 44 2 - 42
Graduate School <1,129> <1,122> <1,177> <252> <10> <915>
Total 426
<1,129>		 426
<1,122>		 424
<1,177>		 49
<252>		 8
<10>		 367
<915>

The number of schools includes all new and existing schools, but not closed schools and campuses. The number of universities has included five branch schools since 2018.

* indicates lifelong education institutions. Figures in < > are not included in the total

Number of Students

Pre-primary, Primary and Secondary Education

(Unit : Person)

Pre-primary, Primary and Secondary Education: Classification, Number of schools(2021, 2022, 2023)
Classification Number of Students
2021 2022 2023
Kindergarten 582,572 552,812 521,794
Elementary School 2,672,340 2,664,278 2,603,929
Middle School 1,350,770 1,348,428 1,326,831
High School Subtotal 1,299,965 1,262,348 1,278,269
General 961,275 961,714 993,933
Special-purposed 63,181 61,424 60,480
Specialized 198,663 182,801 175,327
Autonomous 76,846 56,409 48,529
Special School 26,967 27,930 28,889
Civic High School 43 50 51
Trade High School 529 504 365
Miscellaneous School 9,000 9,110 9,469
Open Middle School 4,782 4,597 4,477
Open High School 10,150 9,711 9,538
Total 5,957,118 5,879,768 5,783,612
Higher Education

(Unit : Person)

Higher Education: Classification, Number of schools(2021, 2022, 2023)
Classification Number of Students
2021 2022 2023
Junior college / under-graduate level University 1,938,254 1,888,699 1,855,374
Univ. of Education 15,409 15,091 14,857
Industrial University 14,539 14,258 13,728
Junior College 576,041 539,306 509,169
Open University 142,719 136,789 125,667
Cyber University 142,127 145,934 145,480
Technical College 62 46 29
Miscellaneous School 3,438 3,426 3,433
Specialized College 14,821 15,036 15,160
Distance University* 2,486 2,836 3,267
College in the Company* 340 334 371
Polytechnic College 23,910 21,878 19,717
Subtotal 2,874,146 2,783,633 2,706,252
Graduate School Graduate School College 10,452 10,791 11,047
Graduate School 316,963 323,116 325,549
Subtotal 327,415 333,907 336,596
Total 3,201,561 3,117,540 3,042,848

The number of students includes those who take a leave of absence from school and it also includes those who postponed acquisition of a bachelor’s degree since 2019.

* indicates lifelong education institutions.

Number of Teachers

Pre-primary, Primary and Secondary Education

(Unit : Person)

Pre-primary, Primary and Secondary Education: Classification, Number of schools(2021, 2022, 2023)
Classification Number of Teachers
2021 2022 2023
Kindergarten 53,457 53,696 55,637
Elementary School 191,224 195,037 195,087
Middle School 113,238 115,673 114,800
High School Subtotal 131,120 131,086 130,610
General 91,448 93,555 94,316
Special-purposed 8,001 8,097 8,124
Specialized 24,816 24,475 24,044
Autonomous 6,855 4,959 4,126
Special School 10,269 10,706 11,038
Civic High School 5 5 6
Trade High School 71 65 64
Miscellaneous School 1,475 1,525 1,608
Open Middle School - - -
Open High School - - -
Total 500,859 507,793 508,850

The number of teachers includes regular and short-term teachers (including those on leave of absence), but not retired or temporary lecturers.

Higher Education

(Unit : Person)

Higher Education: Classification, Number of schools(2021, 2022, 2023)
Classification Number of Teachers
2021 2022 2023
Junior college / under-graduate level University 67,473 66,730 65,939
Univ. of Education 833 829 826
Industrial University 350 324 315
Junior College 12,028 11,626 11,179
Open University 153 162 160
Cyber University 607 607 629
Technical College - - -
Miscellaneous School 149 147 145
Specialized College 268 262 262
Distance University* 18 19 18
College in the Company* 4 3 1
Polytechnic College 863 869 905
Subtotal 82,746 81,578 80,379
Graduate School Graduate School College 1,583 1,645 1,737
Graduate School 6,135 6,034 6,049
Subtotal 7,718 7,679 7,786
Total 90,464 89,257 88,165

The number of faculty members includes presidents(deans) and full-time professors.

* indicates lifelong education institutions.

Source : 2023 Education in Korea

Special-purposed High Schools

(Unit : School, Person)

Special-purposed High Schools: Classification, Schools(2022, 2023), Students(2022,2023), Teachers(2022, 2023)
Classification Schools Students Teachers
2022 2023 2022 2023 2022 2023
Science 28 28 6,876 6,906 1,404 1,396
Foreign Language 30 30 15,935 15,734 1,694 1,676
Arts 26 26 14,267 14,039 1,062 1,067
Physical Education 17 17 3,563 3,595 527 523
International 8 8 3,301 3,408 461 472
Meister 52 53 17,482 16,798 2,949 2,990
Total 161 162 61,424 60,480 8,097 8,124

Science High School includes schools for the gifted designated under Gifted Education Promotion Act.


Source : 2023 Education in Korea

Entrants and Graduates in Primary and Secondary Education

(Unit : Person)

Entrants and Graduates in Primary and Secondary Education: Classification, Entrants(2022, 2023), Graduates(2022, 2023)
Classification Entrants Graduates
2022 2023 2022 2023
Elementary School 431,509 401,907 431,813 454,790
Middle School 429,920 453,186 427,340 468,837
High School Subtotal 427,758 468,841 445,815 429,910
General 328,111 366,182 336,727 329,283
Special-purposed 20,639 21,320 20,931 20,958
Specialized 60,088 64,373 68,585 63,595
Autonomous 18,920 16,966 19,572 16,074

The number of entrants indicates those who entered in March.

The number of graduates indicates those who graduated in February

Enrolment Rates

(Unit : %)

Enrolment Rates:Year, Kindergarten, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Year Kindergarten Elementary School Middle School High School
2023 54.8 99.8 96.9 93.3
2022 52.7 98.5 98.2 94.5
2021 50.1 98.1 97.4 95.7

Enrollment rates(%) = (number of students of appropriate age/number of population of appropriate age)x100

Age of enrollment : 3-5 for kindergarten, 6-11 for elementary school, 12-14 for middle school, 15-17 for high school

Source : 2023 Education in Korea

Number of Students per Class

(Unit : Person)

Number of Students per Class:Year, Kinder-garten, Elemen-tary School, Middle School, High School(Total, General, Special-purposed, Specia-lized, Auto-nomous)
Year Kinder-garten Elementary School Middle School High School
Total General Special-purposed Specialized Autonomous
2023 16.1 20.7 24.6 22.9 24.1 20.8 17.7 26.7
2022 16.7 21.1 25.0 22.6 23.7 21.3 18.1 26.0
2021 17.5 21.5 25.5 23.1 24.0 22.1 19.2 25.9

Number of students per class = number of students/number of classes

Number of Students per Teacher

(Unit : Person)

Number of Students per Teacher:Year, Kinder-garten, Elemen-tary School, Middle School, High School(Total, General, Special-purposed, Specia-lized, Auto-nomous)
Year Kinder-garten Elementary School Middle School High School
Total General Special-purposed Specialized Autonomous
2023 9.4 13.3 11.6 9.8 10.5 7.4 7.3 11.8
2022 10.3 13.7 11.7 9.6 10.3 7.6 7.5 11.4
2021 10.9 14.0 11.9 9.9 10.5 7.9 8.0 11.2

Number of students per teacher = number of students/number of teachers

Students per Full-time Faculty

(Unit : Person)

Students per Full-time Faculty:School Year, Total, University, Univ. of Education, Junior College
School Year Total University Univ. of Education Junior College
2023 26.4 23.0 24.6 33.3
2022 26.2 22.6 25.5 33.3
2021 26.4 22.8 26.0 33.3

The number of students excludes those who take a leave of absence from school.

The number of faculty indicates full-time only. University and university of education include graduate school faculty and students.

Multicultural Students

(Unit : %)

Multicultural Students:Year,Elementary School, Middle School, High School, Miscellaneous School, Total
Year Elementary School Middle School High School Miscellaneous School Total
2023 115,639 43,698 21,190 651 181,178
2022 111,640 39,714 16,744 547 168,645
2021 111,371 33,950 14,308 429 160,058

Students from multicultural families include those from international marriage families and foreign families.


Source : 2023 Education in Korea

Entrants/Leave of Absence/Graduates in Higher Education

(Unit : Person)

Entrants/Leave of Absence/Graduates in Higher Education: Classification, Entrants(2022, 2023), Leave of Absence(2022, 2023), Graduates(2022, 2023)
Classification Entrants Leave of Absence Graduates
2022 2023 2022 2023 2022 2023
Junior College/ undergraduate level University 329,843 330,439 499,849 458,941 336,085 314,760
Univ. of Education 3,861 3,812 405 494 3,822 3,575
Industrial University 2,664 2,735 3,109 2,760 2,726 2,770
Junior College 163,701 160,061 152,153 136,750 159,135 148,612
Others 60,818 59,706 69,678 62,620 66,502 74,648
Graduate School 133,714 134,260 41,015 41,484 101,629 101,353
Total 694,601 691,013 766,209 703,049 669,899 645,718

Others include open university, cyber university, technical university, miscellaneous university, specialized university, distance university, college in the company and polytechnic college.

Foreign Students in Higher Education

(Unit : Person)

Foreign Students in Higher Education:Year, Degree course(Total, Associate degree, Under-graduate, Master, Doctor), Non-degree, Nondegree
Year Degree course Nondegree Total
Total Associate degree Undergraduate Master Doctor
2023 129,240 10,003 71,084 30,012 18,141 52,602 181,842
2022 124,803 9,928 71,060 26,923 16,892 42,089 166,892
2021 120,018 9,057 71,540 25,169 14,252 32,263 152,281

The number of foreign students includes all those in degree or non-degree courses.

Non-degree course includes students in language courses, jointly-operating curriculums, student exchange programs, visiting programs and others.

Source : 2023 Education in Korea

OECD PISA Rankings of Korea

(three year cycle, 15 year olds)

OECD PISA Rankings of Korea:Year(2006, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018), No. of Countries:(57), (75), (65), (72), (79)
Year 2006 2009 2012 2015 2018
No. of Countries (57) (75) (65) (72) (79)
OECD Countries Reading 1 1~2 1~2 3~8 2~7
Math 1~2 1~2 1 1~4 1~4
Science 5~9 2~4 2~4 5~8 3~5
Partner Countries Reading 1 2~4 3~5 4~9 6~11
Math 1~4 3~6 3~5 6~9 5~9
Science 7~13 4~7 5~8 9~14 6~10

Ranges of ranks for each country are provided at the 95 percent confidence level since PISA 2006.

Source : OECD. http://www.oecd.org/pisa/

Source : 2023 Education in Korea

Expenditure on Educational Institutions per Student

(In equivalent USD converted using Purchasing power parity(PPP) for GDP)

Expenditure on Educational Institutions per Student:Fiscal Year, Classification, Primary, Secondary, Tertiary
Fiscal Year Classification Primary Secondary Tertiary
2020 (2023) Korea 13,278 17,038 12,225
OECD Average 10,658 11,942 18,105
2019 (2022) Korea 13,341 17,078 11,287
OECD Average 9,923 11,400 17,559
2018 (2021) Korea 12,535 14,978 11,290
OECD Average 9,550 11,192 17,065

Expenditure per student on educational institutions= [Direct expenditure within educational institutions/number of students]/PPP

Korea’s Purchasing power parity for GDP(PPP, USD = 1) : 865.72 won in 2018, 864.63 won in 2019, 837.67 won in 2020(Data refer to the financial year). Source : OECD(pertinent year), Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators

Expenditure on Educational Institutions as a percentage of GDP

(Unit : %)

Expenditure on Educational Institutions as a percentage of GDP:Fiscal Year, Classification, Primary/Secondary(Public, Private, Total), Tertiary(Public, Private, Total)
Fiscal Year Classification Primary, Secondary Tertiary
Public Private Total Public Private Total
2020 (2023) Korea 3.3 0.2 3.5 0.7 0.9 1.6
OECD Average 3.3 0.3 3.6 1.0 0.5 1.5
2019 (2022) Korea 3.4 0.4 3.7 0.6 0.9 1.5
OECD Average 3.1 0.3 3.4 0.9 0.5 1.5
2018 (2021) Korea 3.1 0.4 3.5 0.6 0.9 1.6
OECD Average 3.1 0.3 3.4 0.9 0.4 1.4

Expenditure on educational institutions as a percentage of GDP = (expenditure from public sources + private sources + international sources)/GDP*100
- Since the totals include international sources, rounding-off may differ from simple sum(public sources and private sources).
- The expenditure from private sources of Korea includes those from international sources.

The indicator above indicates the final source of funds - expenditure after transfers from the government to the private sectors - are included in private sources.
※ Transfers from government to private sector(example): scholarships for students, financial aid to households, etc. GDP of Korea(data refer to the fiscal year): 1,898 trillion won in 2018, 1,924 trillion won in 2019, 1,941 trillion won in 2020. Source : OECD(pertinent year), Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators

Source : 2023 Education in Korea