Number of Schools
Pre-primary, Primary and Secondary Education
(Unit : Person)
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)
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 totalNumber of Students
Pre-primary, Primary and Secondary Education
(Unit : Person)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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 FebruaryEnrolment Rates
(Unit : %)
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 schoolSource : 2023 Education in Korea
Number of Students per Class
(Unit : Person)
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)
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)
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 : %)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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 IndicatorsExpenditure on Educational Institutions as a percentage of GDP
(Unit : %)
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.
※ 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