Spending on private education for primary, middle and high school students nationwide totaled a record 29-point-two trillion won last year, or about 20 billion U.S. dollars, up nearly eight percent from the year prior.

According to the 2024 Survey on Private Education Expenses for Elementary, Middle and High Schools released by the National Statistical Office on Thursday, monthly after-school education expenditures per student hit 474-thousand won, up nine-point-three percent from 2023.

For high school students in Seoul, monthly spending amounted to one-point-02 million won. 

After falling seven-point-eight percent in 2020 due to COVID-19, private education expenses for grade school students rebounded by 21 percent in 2021, then increased by ten-point-eight percent in 2022, four-point-five percent in 2023 and seven-point-seven percent in 2024. 

According to the statistical office, although the number of students across the country is decreasing, private education expenses are increasing because more families are choosing private education and students are putting in more hours.

The participation rate in private education rose one-point-five percentage points from the previous year to 80 percent, the highest ever.

Data also showed that the higher the household income level, the more families spent on private education.

The average monthly private education cost per student for households with an average monthly income of eight million won or more was 676-thousand won, while households with monthly income of less than three million won spent an average of 205-thousand won. 

This means households in the wealthiest income bracket spent more than three times those in the lowest income group. 

The survey of private education expenses did not include infants and toddlers attending kindergartens and daycare centers.