In modern society, along with the expansion of mass public schooling, shadow education is also increasing worldwide. Since shadow education is affected by a country's educational, economic, and socio-cultural environment, there are differences in the use of shadow education in different countries. With the need for a cross-national study, this paper aims to reveal global trends and national differences in shadow education. For this purpose, we used multi-level logistic regression analysis with data from the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Through this analysis, the impact of national factors such as public expenditure on education, economic level, credentialism, and income inequality on the use of shadow education was determined. Specifically, the lower the GDP per capita, the lower the post-secondary education enrollment rate, and the higher the income inequality, the higher the likelihood of participation in shadow education. In regard to shadow education utilization strategies, the higher the public expenditure on education and GDP per capita, the higher the tendency to use shadow education as a remedial strategy. On the other hand, the higher the post-secondary education enrollment rates, the higher the tendency to use shadow education as a enrichment strategy. We suggest policy implications and further research based on these results.