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Government expenditure on primary education as % of GDP (%) by country

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....

Countries reporting
152
Highest
4.1%
Kiribati
Lowest
0.2%
Monaco
Median
1.4%
Years covered
50
1970–2019
Data points
2,924

What the numbers show

Government expenditure on primary education as % of GDP (%) is currently reported for 152 countries. The highest value is 4.1% in Kiribati; the lowest is 0.2% in Monaco.

The median across all reporting countries is 1.4%, and the mean is 1.5%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 24.

Over the past decade 66 countries rose and 67 fell. The largest increase was in Gambia (up 183.7%), and the largest decrease in Namibia (down 83.2%).

Government expenditure on primary education as % of GDP: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Kiribati 4.1% 2001 — rising
2 Lesotho 3.9% 2018 down 10.1% rising
3 Cuba 3.7% 2010 up 40.2% rising
4 Eswatini 3.6% 2014 up 76.5% rising
5 Togo 3.2% 2016 up 174.9% rising
6 Sierra Leone 3.0% 2019 up 120.4% rising
7 Zimbabwe 2.9% 2014 — volatile
8 Honduras 2.9% 2013 — rising
9 Burundi 2.7% 2013 up 111.4% rising
10 Zambia 2.5% 2017 up 142.2% falling
11 South Africa 2.4% 2019 up 13.1% flat
12 Israel 2.4% 2017 up 14.6% flat
13 Belize 2.4% 2018 down 13.4% falling
14 North Macedonia 2.3% 1996 — falling
15 Morocco 2.3% 2013 up 6.1% rising
16 Iceland 2.2% 2017 down 7.2% rising
17 Burkina Faso 2.1% 2015 down 24.3% rising
18 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2.1% 2018 down 28.7% falling
19 Costa Rica 2.1% 2019 down 16.1% rising
20 Malawi 2.1% 2016 up 18.1% rising
21 Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of 2.1% 2015 up 103.3% flat
22 Syria 2.1% 2015 down 0.8% flat
23 Vanuatu 2.0% 2017 down 29.6% falling
24 Dominican Republic 2.0% 2019 up 114.8% rising
25 Nepal 2.0% 2015 up 13.2% rising
26 Cape Verde 2.0% 2017 down 11.0% falling
27 Bhutan 1.9% 2014 up 51.0% rising
28 Denmark 1.9% 2017 up 6.5% falling
29 Congo 1.9% 2010 up 70.0% falling
30 Kenya 1.9% 2015 down 54.6% falling
31 Sweden 1.9% 2017 up 22.4% falling
32 Cyprus 1.9% 2017 up 6.4% rising
33 Norway 1.9% 2017 up 13.8% falling
34 Guatemala 1.8% 2019 down 3.5% rising
35 Jamaica 1.8% 2019 down 11.7% rising
36 Dominica 1.8% 2019 up 14.4% falling
37 Afghanistan 1.8% 2017 down 17.0% rising
38 Nicaragua 1.8% 2010 up 49.0% rising
39 Tonga 1.7% 2004 up 9.1% falling
40 Tunisia 1.7% 2008 down 24.6% flat
41 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1.7% 2017 up 15.0% rising
42 Serbia 1.7% 2015 down 15.2% falling
43 Botswana 1.7% 2009 — flat
44 Australia 1.7% 2017 up 4.0% rising
45 Thailand 1.7% 2013 up 35.8% rising
46 Mali 1.7% 2017 up 27.4% rising
47 Djibouti 1.7% 2016 up 15.5% falling
48 Viet Nam 1.7% 2013 up 16.9% rising
49 Tanzania, United Republic of 1.7% 2014 down 24.4% rising
50 El Salvador 1.7% 2018 down 2.1% rising
51 Algeria 1.6% 2003 — falling
52 New Zealand 1.6% 2017 — falling
53 Argentina 1.6% 2017 up 2.1% volatile
54 Benin 1.6% 2015 up 29.4% rising
55 Brazil 1.6% 2017 down 1.5% rising
56 United States of America 1.6% 2017 — flat
57 Samoa 1.5% 2016 down 12.3% rising
58 Côte d'Ivoire 1.5% 2018 down 17.7% falling
59 Senegal 1.5% 2018 down 14.5% rising
60 Indonesia 1.5% 2015 up 3.6% rising
61 Belgium 1.5% 2017 — rising
62 Aruba 1.5% 2016 up 21.5% rising
63 Malaysia 1.5% 2019 down 8.2% falling
64 Chile 1.5% 2017 up 32.6% flat
65 Fiji 1.5% 2013 down 37.8% falling
66 Trinidad and Tobago 1.5% 2009 up 8.1% falling
67 Switzerland 1.5% 2017 up 8.6% rising
68 Mexico 1.5% 2017 down 16.9% rising
69 Jordan 1.5% 2019 down 11.3% falling
70 Portugal 1.5% 2017 up 7.4% rising
71 Barbados 1.5% 2016 down 7.3% falling
72 Oman 1.5% 2019 up 5.9% rising
73 Maldives 1.5% 2019 down 41.8% falling
74 Colombia 1.5% 2018 down 0.8% rising
75 Poland 1.4% 2017 down 8.4% falling
76 Guinea 1.4% 2018 up 121.3% rising
77 Philippines 1.4% 2009 down 27.1% rising
78 Comoros 1.4% 2015 up 36.1% rising
79 Estonia 1.4% 2017 up 28.0% falling
80 Republic of Korea 1.4% 2016 — falling
81 Slovenia 1.4% 2017 down 13.6% rising
82 Seychelles 1.4% 2016 down 23.4% falling
83 Latvia 1.3% 2017 up 16.5% rising
84 Finland 1.3% 2017 up 16.1% falling
85 Puerto Rico 1.3% 2014 — falling
86 Mongolia 1.3% 2017 up 5.1% rising
87 Iran, Islamic Republic of 1.3% 2018 up 20.0% falling
88 Ethiopia 1.3% 2015 down 13.4% rising
89 Ecuador 1.3% 2018 down 19.6% flat
90 Republic of Moldova 1.3% 2018 down 11.2% falling
91 Peru 1.3% 2019 down 0.9% rising
92 Paraguay 1.3% 2016 up 16.6% rising
93 Niger 1.2% 2017 down 41.5% rising
94 Ireland 1.2% 2017 down 26.6% flat
95 Gambia 1.2% 2015 up 183.7% falling
96 Lao People's Democratic Republic 1.2% 2014 down 20.9% flat
97 Greece 1.2% 2017 — rising
98 Ukraine 1.2% 2017 up 21.9% volatile
99 Saint Lucia 1.2% 2018 down 11.0% falling
100 France 1.2% 2017 — rising
101 Uruguay 1.2% 2018 up 20.2% rising
102 Netherlands 1.1% 2017 — falling
103 Uganda 1.1% 2014 down 62.3% volatile
104 Spain 1.1% 2017 up 4.7% rising
105 Japan 1.1% 2017 down 5.5% falling
106 Madagascar 1.1% 2012 down 41.6% rising
107 Liberia 1.1% 2018 up 96.6% volatile
108 India 1.1% 2013 down 16.2% falling
109 Mauritius 1.1% 2019 up 32.9% falling
110 Luxembourg 1.0% 2017 down 6.1% falling
111 Chad 1.0% 2018 down 24.8% falling
112 Kuwait 1.0% 2014 down 1.1% volatile
113 Liechtenstein 1.0% 2011 up 37.1% rising
114 Italy 1.0% 2017 down 4.5% flat
115 Ghana 1.0% 2014 down 67.4% volatile
116 Guyana 1.0% 2012 down 73.0% falling
117 Bangladesh 1.0% 2012 up 6.6% rising
118 Türkiye 1.0% 1995 up 23.3% rising
119 Malta 1.0% 2017 down 27.1% rising
120 Cameroon 0.9% 2013 down 7.4% falling
121 Mauritania 0.9% 2019 down 20.9% rising
122 Cambodia 0.9% 2014 down 16.3% falling
123 Austria 0.9% 2017 down 2.4% falling
124 Slovakia 0.9% 2017 up 35.7% falling
125 Rwanda 0.9% 2018 down 44.8% falling
126 Brunei Darussalam 0.9% 2016 up 47.9% volatile
127 Pakistan 0.8% 2015 — rising
128 Czechia 0.8% 2017 up 51.2% falling
129 Bulgaria 0.8% 2017 up 10.5% rising
130 Gabon 0.8% 2014 — falling
131 Hong Kong 0.8% 2019 up 5.9% falling
132 Panama 0.7% 2011 down 45.9% falling
133 Lithuania 0.7% 2017 up 11.3% flat
134 Singapore 0.7% 2018 up 17.2% falling
135 British Virgin Islands 0.7% 2018 down 19.5% volatile
136 Myanmar 0.7% 2019 up 76.6% rising
137 Andorra 0.7% 2019 down 18.1% rising
138 Hungary 0.7% 2017 down 32.1% volatile
139 Germany 0.6% 2017 up 3.6% rising
140 Sri Lanka 0.6% 2018 up 9.0% falling
141 Haiti 0.6% 1991 down 25.6% falling
142 Namibia 0.6% 2017 down 83.2% falling
143 China 0.6% 1999 up 7.0% rising
144 Qatar 0.6% 2009 — falling
145 Central African Republic 0.6% 2010 — falling
146 Turks and Caicos Islands 0.6% 2018 down 25.8% falling
147 Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.6% 2015 — falling
148 South Sudan 0.6% 2016 down 6.8% rising
149 Armenia 0.5% 2017 up 1.3% flat
150 Bermuda 0.5% 2017 down 40.5% falling
151 Romania 0.4% 2017 down 53.8% falling
152 Monaco 0.2% 2016 down 9.0% rising

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Government expenditure on primary education as % of GDP by country. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 01 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/government-expenditure-on-primary-education-as-percent-of-gdp-percent/

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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/