This year, the number of kindergartens was tallied at 7,973, down 167 from a year earlier. The number of kindergartens peaked in 2017 at 9,029 and has continued to decline since. It is the first time in 40 years that the number has fallen below 8,000, since 1987 when there were 7,792. The Ministry of Education explained that the number of kindergartens fell sharply due to low birthrates.
According to the 2026 basic education statistics the Ministry of Education released on the 26th, the total number of kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools was 20,233, down 140 from a year earlier. Kindergartens numbered 7,973, down 167 from a year earlier. Elementary schools numbered 6,191, down by one, while middle schools and high schools increased by 9 and 11 to 3,301 and 2,398, respectively. Other schools, such as special schools, technical high schools and cyber/air and correspondence middle and high schools, totaled 370, up eight.
The number of students fell by nearly 200,000. The total number of kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school students was 5,362,281, down 189,007 (3.4%↓) from 5,551,288 a year earlier. Kindergartens had 469,304 students, down 12,259 (2.5%↓); elementary schools had 2,219,370, down 126,118 (5.4%↓); middle schools had 1,338,750, down 31,606 (2.3%↓); and high schools had 1,279,392, down 20,074 (1.5%↓). Only other schools increased, to 55,465, up 1,050 (1.9%↑).
The number of students per class was tallied at 15.6 in kindergartens, 18.6 in elementary schools, 24.5 in middle schools and 23.1 in high schools. Compared with a year earlier, the number of students per kindergarten class was the same, while elementary, middle and high schools decreased by 0.7, 0.4 and 0.3, respectively.
The number of students with migrant backgrounds in elementary and secondary schools (including various types of schools) was 210,838, up 8,630 (4.3%↑) from 202,208 a year earlier. The share of students with migrant backgrounds among all students was 4.3%, up 0.3 percentage points from 4.0% a year earlier. The number of kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school teachers was 505,545, down 594 (0.1%↓) from 506,139 a year earlier.
The total number of higher education institutions nationwide was 416, down five from a year earlier. By type, there were 188 general universities, 10 colleges of education, 126 junior colleges, 47 others including cyber and air and correspondence universities, and 45 graduate schools.
The total number of students affiliated with higher education institutions (enrolled students + students on leave + students who deferred the awarding of a bachelor's degree) was 3,072,261, up 55,537 (1.8%↑) from 3,016,724 a year earlier.
The total number of foreign students (based on students affiliated) was 307,464, up 54,030 (21.3%↑) from a year earlier. By nationality of students who came to study in Korea, Vietnam (96,834) ranked first. Since the compilation of statistics, China had been the No. 1 source of international students, but in this year's statistics Vietnam overtook China to take first place. China ranked second with 78,890.