Costa Rica vs Iceland: Government expenditure on primary education as % of GDP

Costa Rica
2.1%
in 2019
Iceland
2.2%
in 2017
Costa Rica rank
19th
Iceland rank
16th

Government expenditure on primary education as % of GDP over time

  • Costa Rica
  • Iceland
0123198019992019

How they compare

Iceland currently reports 2.2% against 2.1% in Costa Rica, a difference of 0.1%.

That makes Iceland's figure about 1.1 times Costa Rica's.

The two have swapped places 4 times across 18 shared years of data; in 1996 it was Iceland ahead.

Costa Rica ranks 19th and Iceland ranks 16th of 152 countries.

Across the 3 decades both report, Costa Rica averaged higher in 2 and Iceland in 1.

Head to head by decade

Decade Costa Rica Iceland Difference Ahead
1990s 2.1% 2.0% 0.1% Costa Rica
2000s 2.1% 2.4% 0.3% Iceland
2010s 2.5% 2.2% 0.3% Costa Rica

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher government expenditure on primary education as % of gdp, Costa Rica or Iceland?
Iceland, at 2.2% against 2.1% in Costa Rica as of 2017.
What is the difference in government expenditure on primary education as % of gdp between Costa Rica and Iceland?
0.1%, with Iceland ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Costa Rica and Iceland?
18 years are reported by both, from 1996 to 2017.
How do Costa Rica and Iceland rank globally for government expenditure on primary education as % of gdp?
Costa Rica ranks 19th and Iceland ranks 16th of 152 countries.
Where does this data come from?
UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as Government expenditure on primary education as % of GDP (%). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Costa Rica vs Iceland: Government expenditure on primary education as % of GDP. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 14 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/government-expenditure-on-primary-education-as-percent-of-gdp-percent/costa-rica/iceland/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/government-expenditure-on-primary-education-as-percent-of-gdp-percent/costa-rica/iceland/">Costa Rica vs Iceland: Government expenditure on primary education as % of GDP</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Government expenditure on primary education as % of GDP (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
152 places, 2,924 data points, 1970–2019
Last refreshed

Total general (local, regional and central) government expenditure on primary education (current, capital, and transfers), expressed as a percentage of GDP. It includes expenditure funded by transfers from international sources to government. Divide total government expenditure for a given level of education (ex. primary, secondary, or all levels combined) by the GDP, and multiply by 100. A higher percentage of GDP spent on education shows a higher government priority for education, but also a higher capacity of the government to raise revenues for public spending, in relation to the size of the country's economy. When interpreting this indicator however, one should keep in mind in some countries, the private sector and/or households may fund a higher proportion of total funding for education, thus making government expenditure appear lower than in other countries. Limitations: In some instances data on total public expenditure on education refers only to the Ministry of Education, excluding other ministries which may also spend a part of their budget on educational activities. For more information, consult the UNESCO Institute of Statistics website: http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/