유·초·중·고 학생 536만명 ‘역대 최저’…이주배경학생은 ‘역대 최다’

South Korea's school enrollment numbers dropped by nearly 19,000 students compared to last year, with the youngest students feeling the impact the most. However, foreign background students saw a significant increase, making up the largest group of learners. According to the 2026 Education Basic Statistics released by the Ministry of Education and the Korea Education Development Institute on the 26th, the total number of students in kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high schools fell to 536,228 from the previous year's 554,128, a 3.4% decrease marking the lowest enrollment rate on record.

The enrollment decline was more pronounced (13,495 students, or 2.3%) than the previous year (12,349 students, or 2.0%). Among school levels, elementary schools saw the steepest drop, with enrollment falling by 12,618 students (5.4%) to 221,9370 students. Kindergarten enrollment decreased by 1,2259 students (2.5%) to 46,930, while middle school enrollment fell by 3,1606 students (2.3%) to 133,8750 students, and high school enrollment decreased by 2,074 students (1.5%) to 127,9392 students.

Meanwhile, the number of foreign background students grew to a record 218,380, up 8,630 students (4.3%) from the previous year. This figure had surpassed 4,6954 in 2012 for the first time, then 10,000 in 2017, and 20,000 in 2025. The proportion of foreign background students among all students rose to 4.3%, up 0.3 percentage points from last year.

By parents' nationality, Vietnamese students accounted for the largest share at 30.9% (6,5247 students), followed by students from China (excluding Korean students) at 26.7% (5,6288 students), the Philippines at 8.1% (1,7049 students), Central Asia at 4.7% (9,860 students), and Korean Chinese at 4.6% (9,750 students). The number of foreign students studying in South Korean universities (including full-time and part-time students) increased to 30,7464 from the previous year's 25,2434, a 21.3% rise.

Among them, full-time students numbered 22,3191, an increase of 4,4001 (24.6%) from the previous year, while part-time students numbered 8,4273, a 1,329 (13.5%) increase. The distribution of students by their nationality shows that Vietnamese students topped the list with 9,6834 (31.5%), surpassing Chinese students (7,8890, 25.7%) for the first time.

However, for part-time students, Chinese students had the highest proportion at 31.7%, whereas Vietnamese students led the pack at 46.1% in full-time studies. The Ministry of Education projected that the number of foreign students in South Korean schools would rise to 30,000 by 2027 through initiatives like the 'Study Korea 300K' project.

The overall high school dropout rate remained stable at 1.1% this year, down from 1.0% in 2019 before rebounding to 0.6% in 2020, 0.8% in 2021, 1.0% in 2022, and 1.1% in 2024. Last year, 5,3617 students graduated from high schools, while 2,5130 university students were expected to graduate, a 21.0% increase from last year. This trend suggests that many students are delaying graduation due to academic pressure, hinting at the impact of the job market.