South Korea’s Public Education Spending Per Student Drops 7.8%

The contraction was driven by a decrease in local education finance grants caused by lower tax revenues during an economic slowdown.

Elementary and Secondary Spending Drops Sharply

The decline in spending heavily affected elementary and secondary schools across the country. According to Ministry of Education data, spending per elementary student dropped 17.1% to $16,365, while secondary student spending fell 13.0% to $21,980 compared to the previous year. The ratio of government-funded public education expenditure to Gross Domestic Product for primary and secondary levels dropped from 4.0% to 3.2%, marking a 0.8 percentage point decrease.

Hur Young-ki, head of the Education Data Policy Division at the Ministry of Education, explained the financial shift. In 2022, tax revenues climbed due to economic recovery alongside deferred tax payments from businesses impacted by COVID-19, but 2023 brought a slowing economy, reduced tax collections, and smaller allocation grants.

The Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union criticized the volatile funding model. The union warned that education finances fluctuate wildly based on tax revenue drops and argued that mechanically applying school-age population decline rates to reduce or cap local education finance grants, as currently discussed in reform proposals, will inevitably lower the quality of public education.

Higher Education Spending and Youth Attainment Rates

In contrast to primary and secondary tiers, higher education spending per student rose 12.1% to reach $16,479. Despite this increase, funding for tertiary education remains at 72% of the OECD average of $22,878.

At the same time, South Korea maintained its leading position in youth higher education attainment. Among adults aged 25 to 34, the higher education completion rate reached 71.1% last year. This figure outpaced Canada at 67.7% and Ireland at 66.8%, sitting 23.6 percentage points above the OECD average of 47.5%. South Korea has ranked first among OECD nations in youth higher education attainment every year since 2008, with completion rates rising steadily from 69.3% in 2021, 69.6% in 2022, 69.7% in 2023, and 70.6% in 2024.

Wage Gaps and Classroom Demographics

Wage disparities tied to educational attainment narrowed slightly in South Korea compared to prior metrics. Using high school graduates as a baseline of 100 in 2024, junior college graduates earned 110.1%, university graduates earned 131.8, and graduate degree holders earned 173.5. These ratios represent a compression from 2023 figures, where junior college wages stood at 109.9, university wages at 132.5, and graduate wages at 176.3. South Korea’s wage gaps across all education tiers remain narrower than OECD averages, where junior college graduates earn 117.6, university graduates earn 139.3, and graduate degree holders earn 179.7 of high school graduate wages.

Classroom density continued a downward trend but stayed above OECD norms. In 2024, the average number of students per class dropped to 20.9 in elementary schools and 25.6 in middle schools, down from 21.6 and 25.7 respectively in the previous year. However, these averages remain higher than the OECD averages of 20.6 for primary schools and 22.7 for middle schools.

Teacher-to-student ratios shifted due to a methodological change that excludes teachers on leave and those dispatched to off-campus institutions starting in 2024. The resulting ratios showed 16.1 students per elementary teacher, 13.8 per middle school teacher, and 11.5 per high school teacher. While elementary and middle school ratios exceed OECD averages, high school teacher-to-student ratios fall below them.

Annual net teaching hours for South Korean instructors averaged 662 hours for elementary schools, 521 hours for middle schools, 532 hours for general high schools, and 526 hours for vocational high schools. All categories remained below OECD average benchmarks.