Government expenditure on tertiary education as % of GDP in Bangladesh

Bangladesh: Government expenditure on tertiary education as % of GDP was 0.5% in 2019. ▲ Rising

Latest (2019)
0.5%
Change on year
down 10.7%
World rank
120th
of 160 countries
All-time high
0.5%
in 2016
All-time low
0.1%
in 1997
Years of data
29
1979–2019

Government expenditure on tertiary education as % of GDP in Bangladesh, 1979–2019

0.10.20.30.40.51979199920191979: 0.25 %1980: 0.205 %1981: 0.17 %1982: 0.129 %1983: 0.119 %1984: 0.14 %1985: 0.134 %1986: 0.129 %1987: 0.14 %1990: 0.125 %1991: 0.129 %1992: 0.166 %1993: 0.144 %1997: 0.093 %1999: 0.234 %2000: 0.215 %2001: 0.219 %2002: 0.225 %2003: 0.189 %2004: 0.224 %2006: 0.276 %2007: 0.253 %2008: 0.273 %2009: 0.262 %2010: 0.26 %2011: 0.22 %2012: 0.321 %2016: 0.511 %2019: 0.456 %

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.

Analysis

Bangladesh recorded 0.5% for government expenditure on tertiary education as % of gdp in 2019.

The figure is down 10.7% on the previous year and up 74.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, government expenditure on tertiary education as % of gdp in Bangladesh peaked at 0.5% in 2016 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 1997.

That places Bangladesh 120th out of 160 countries with data for 2019, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 29 years of available data.

Government expenditure on tertiary education as % of GDP in Bangladesh, year by year

Annual values for Government expenditure on tertiary education as % of GDP (%) in Bangladesh, 1979 to 2019.
Year % Change
1979 0.3%
1980 0.2% -17.9%
1981 0.2% -17.3%
1982 0.1% -24.2%
1983 0.1% -7.4%
1984 0.1% +17.8%
1985 0.1% -4.3%
1986 0.1% -3.8%
1987 0.1% +8.6%
1990 0.1% -10.8%
1991 0.1% +3.4%
1992 0.2% +28.3%
1993 0.1% -13.3%
1997 0.1% -35.7%
1999 0.2% +152.7%
2000 0.2% -8.0%
2001 0.2% +2.1%
2002 0.2% +2.4%
2003 0.2% -16.1%
2004 0.2% +18.8%
2006 0.3% +23.0%
2007 0.3% -8.3%
2008 0.3% +7.9%
2009 0.3% -3.9%
2010 0.3% -0.6%
2011 0.2% -15.7%
2012 0.3% +46.0%
2016 0.5% +59.4%
2019 0.5% -10.7%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 1
1980s 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 8
1990s 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 6
2000s 0.2% 0.2% 0.3% 9
2010s 0.4% 0.2% 0.5% 5

Countries ranked near Bangladesh

  1. 117 North Macedonia 0.5% compare
  2. 118 Luxembourg 0.5% compare
  3. 119 Côte d'Ivoire 0.5% compare
  4. 121 China 0.5% compare
  5. 122 Azerbaijan 0.4% compare
  6. 123 Sri Lanka 0.4% compare

See the full ranking of 160 places →

More reference data data for Bangladesh

All data for Bangladesh →

Frequently asked questions

What is government expenditure on tertiary education as % of gdp in Bangladesh?
Government expenditure on tertiary education as % of gdp in Bangladesh was 0.5% in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest government expenditure on tertiary education as % of gdp recorded in Bangladesh?
The highest recorded value was 0.5% in 2016.
What is the lowest government expenditure on tertiary education as % of gdp recorded in Bangladesh?
The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 1997.
How does Bangladesh rank for government expenditure on tertiary education as % of gdp?
Bangladesh ranks 120th out of 160 countries with data for 2019.
Is government expenditure on tertiary education as % of gdp rising or falling in Bangladesh?
Over the last ten years it is up 74.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Bangladesh data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Government expenditure on tertiary education as % of GDP (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Government expenditure on tertiary education as % of GDP in Bangladesh. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 09 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/government-expenditure-on-tertiary-education-as-percent-of-gdp-percent/bangladesh/

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About this data

Indicator
Government expenditure on tertiary education as % of GDP (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
160 places, 3,221 data points, 1970–2019
Last refreshed

Total general (local, regional and central) government expenditure on tertiary 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/