Private education expenses for students in South Korea amounted to 27.5 trillion won last year, reflecting a slight decrease compared to the previous year, yet remaining the second highest figure on record.
According to a report by the Korean Ministry of Education and the National Data Agency, private education expenses for elementary, middle, and high school students in South Korea totaled 27.5 trillion won last year, marking a 5.7% decrease from 29.2 trillion won in 2024. Despite this decline, experts argue that the burden of private education has not significantly diminished, as this amount is still the second largest since records began in 2007. The number of students enrolled in these grades also saw a slight reduction, declining from 5.14 million to 5.02 million over the same period.
The participation rate in private education among elementary, middle, and high school students stood at 75.7%, indicating a decrease of 4.3 percentage points compared to the previous year. Additionally, the average weekly duration of private education reduced by 24 minutes, amounting to a total of 7 hours and 6 minutes per week. Conversely, the average monthly expenditure on private education per participating student increased by 2.0% to 604,000 won, with higher increases noted at the high school (2.6%) and elementary school (1.7%) levels. The increase in expenditures, aligned with the inflation rate of 2.1%, reflects ongoing challenges for families despite the overall decrease in private education spending.
There were also pronounced disparities in private education spending, especially related to household income. The data showed an increase in the proportion of students either not participating in private education or spending less than 200,000 won per month, which rose by 4.3% and 0.2%, respectively. In contrast, the proportion of students spending over 1 million won per month also experienced a slight rise. There was a significant difference in spending based on income levels, with students from households earning over 8 million won a month having an average monthly expenditure of 662,000 won, while students from households earning less than 3 million won spent an average of just 192,000 won—representing over a threefold discrepancy. This trend underscores the growing inequality in access to private education resources among students from different economic backgrounds.
