Annual Private Education Expenses 26 Trillion Won... If Monthly Salary Is 8 Million Won, 640,000 Won Spent Every Month

Statistics Korea's '2022 Survey on Private Education Expenses for Elementary, Middle, and High School Students'
The Most Commonly Taken Private Subject is 'English'
Total Language Training Expenses Reach 37.6 Billion KRW... Increased by 205.2%

Last year, the total private education expenses for elementary, middle, and high school students reached 26 trillion won, marking a 10.8% (2.5 trillion won) increase from the previous year's 23.4 trillion won. In particular, high-income households with a monthly average income exceeding 8 million won led the growth by spending more than three times the private education expenses compared to households earning less than 3 million won.

According to the "2022 Elementary, Middle, and High School Private Education Expense Survey Results" released by Statistics Korea on the 7th, the participation rate in private education was 78.3%, and the average weekly participation time was 7.2 hours, increasing by 2.8 percentage points and 0.5 hours respectively compared to the previous year. While the total number of students decreased from 5.32 million to 5.28 million, the average monthly private education expense per student rose by 11.8% to 410,000 won. Notably, private education expenses for elementary students increased by 13.4% to 372,000 won, outpacing the growth rates of middle school (+11.8%) and high school (+9.7%) students.

Average Monthly Private Education Expenses and Participation Rate per Person by Household Income Level

Private education expenses and participation rates were higher among children from households with higher incomes. Households with a monthly average income of 8 million won or more spent the most on private education, averaging 648,000 won. In contrast, households earning less than 3 million won spent the least, averaging 178,000 won. The participation rate in private education was also highest among households earning 8 million won or more at 88.1%, while it was lowest at 57.2% for households earning less than 3 million won.

By grade, the average monthly private education expense per student was highest among first-year high school students at 491,000 won. Among participating students, first-year high school students also spent the most at 706,000 won. In elementary school, sixth graders spent the most at 403,000 won, while in middle school, third graders spent the most at 449,000 won.

The proportion of students spending 700,000 won or more monthly on private education increased by 3.3 percentage points compared to the previous year. The proportion of students spending less than 400,000 won monthly decreased, while the proportion spending 400,000 won or more increased.

The general academic subject on which students spent the most was English. Students spent 123,000 won on English, 116,000 won on mathematics, and 34,000 won on Korean. However, the rate of cost increase was fastest for Korean at 13.0%, compared to English (10.2%) and mathematics (9.7%).

The primary purpose of learning general academic subjects through private education was to supplement school lessons, accounting for 50.0% of responses. Advanced learning (24.1%) and preparation for college entrance exams (14.2%) also had significant shares. For arts and physical education-related private education, the highest proportion was for hobbies, cultural enrichment, and talent development at 63.4%.

The total amount spent on language study abroad programs reached approximately 37.6 billion won, representing a 205.2% increase compared to the previous year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.