Australia vs Canada: Government expenditure on tertiary education, US$

Australia
17,118 millions
in 2017
Canada
25,279 millions
in 2017
Australia rank
10th
Canada rank
8th

Government expenditure on tertiary education, US$ over time

  • Australia
  • Canada
010.0k20.0k30.0k197119942017

How they compare

Canada currently reports 25,279 millions against 17,118 millions in Australia, a difference of 8,161 millions.

That makes Canada's figure about 1.5 times Australia's.

Across all 26 years both countries report, Canada has been ahead every year.

Australia ranks 10th and Canada ranks 8th of 158 countries.

Canada has averaged higher in every one of the 5 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Australia Canada Difference Ahead
1970s 1,658 millions 4,428 millions 2,770 millions Canada
1980s 2,903 millions 7,003 millions 4,100 millions Canada
1990s 4,851 millions 12,314 millions 7,463 millions Canada
2000s 10,120 millions 24,556 millions 14,436 millions Canada
2010s 18,152 millions 27,283 millions 9,131 millions Canada

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher government expenditure on tertiary education, us$, Australia or Canada?
Canada, at 25,279 millions against 17,118 millions in Australia as of 2017.
What is the difference in government expenditure on tertiary education, us$ between Australia and Canada?
8,161 millions, with Canada ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Australia and Canada?
26 years are reported by both, from 1978 to 2017.
How do Australia and Canada rank globally for government expenditure on tertiary education, us$?
Australia ranks 10th and Canada ranks 8th of 158 countries.
Where does this data come from?
UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as Government expenditure on tertiary education, US$ (millions). 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

Australia vs Canada: Government expenditure on tertiary education, US$. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 18 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/government-expenditure-on-tertiary-education-us-millions/australia/canada/

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-tertiary-education-us-millions/australia/canada/">Australia vs Canada: Government expenditure on tertiary education, US$</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Government expenditure on tertiary education, US$ (millions)
Unit
millions
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
158 places, 3,257 data points, 1970–2019
Last refreshed

Total general (local, regional and central) government expenditure on tertiary education (current, capital, and transfers) in millions US$ (nominal value). It includes expenditure funded by transfers from international sources to government. Total government expenditure for a given level of education (e.g. primary, secondary, or all levels combined) in national currency is converted to US$. Limitations: In some instances data on total government 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/