Initial government funding per upper secondary student as a percentage of GDP per capita by country

Total general (local, regional and central, current and capital) initial government funding of education per student, which includes transfers paid (such as scholarships to students), but excludes transfers received, in this case international transfers to government for education (when foreign donors provide...

Countries reporting
86
Highest
66.2%
Mali
Lowest
4.5%
Guatemala
Median
20.0%
Years covered
25
1995–2019
Data points
1,018

What the numbers show

Initial government funding per upper secondary student as a percentage of GDP per capita is currently reported for 86 countries. The highest value is 66.2% in Mali; the lowest is 4.5% in Guatemala.

The median across all reporting countries is 20.0%, and the mean is 21.4%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 15.

Over the past decade 39 countries rose and 45 fell. The largest increase was in Dominican Republic (up 193.4%), and the largest decrease in Niger (down 87.0%).

Initial government funding per upper secondary student as a: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Mali 66.2% 2017 up 1.1% falling
2 Cuba 53.8% 2010 down 10.9% falling
3 Belize 39.9% 2018 up 33.5% rising
4 Morocco 39.5% 2009 down 34.4% falling
5 Burkina Faso 39.2% 2016 down 9.1% falling
6 Cyprus 39.0% 2017 up 11.3% rising
7 Dominica 36.9% 2019 up 80.7% volatile
8 Malawi 35.2% 2016 up 64.5% rising
9 Chad 33.1% 2018 up 15.8% rising
10 Ghana 33.0% 2014 down 27.4% falling
11 Ethiopia 31.8% 2015 down 54.8% falling
12 Ukraine 29.2% 2017 down 4.7% falling
13 Eswatini 29.1% 2011 down 21.3% falling
14 Malta 29.1% 2017 up 29.0% volatile
15 Norway 29.0% 2017 down 4.6% falling
16 Portugal 27.8% 2017 down 21.0% flat
17 Oman 27.7% 2019 up 79.5% rising
18 Jamaica 26.8% 2019 up 14.4% rising
19 Costa Rica 26.6% 2019 up 29.7% rising
20 Germany 25.8% 2017 up 0.9% rising
21 Hungary 25.3% 2017 up 11.0% rising
22 Latvia 25.2% 2017 up 7.3% flat
23 Kuwait 24.8% 2011 up 31.0% rising
24 Canada 24.6% 2017 down 16.9% falling
25 India 24.4% 2013 down 26.9% falling
26 Austria 23.9% 2017 down 4.8% falling
27 United States 23.8% 2017 flat
28 Japan 23.7% 2017 up 17.8% rising
29 Iran 23.6% 2017 up 15.1% rising
30 Brazil 23.4% 2017 up 65.8% rising
31 Republic of Moldova 23.4% 2018 down 21.0% falling
32 Italy 23.3% 2016 down 13.1% falling
33 Sweden 23.0% 2017 down 31.9% falling
34 Slovakia 22.9% 2017 up 33.7% falling
35 Rwanda 22.2% 2018 down 13.0% falling
36 Czechia 21.8% 2017 up 5.7% flat
37 Denmark 21.5% 2017 down 45.7% falling
38 Croatia 21.5% 2017 up 10.8% rising
39 Argentina 21.4% 2017 up 15.6% rising
40 New Zealand 21.1% 2017 flat
41 Senegal 20.7% 2015 down 69.6% volatile
42 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 20.5% 2017 down 25.9% falling
43 Poland 20.0% 2017 down 9.4% flat
44 Slovenia 20.0% 2017 down 17.8% falling
45 Switzerland 19.8% 2017 down 15.8% falling
46 Lao People's Democratic Republic 19.7% 2014 up 22.2% rising
47 Estonia 19.1% 2017 down 14.8% falling
48 Luxembourg 19.1% 2017 up 1.8% falling
49 Sierra Leone 18.9% 2017 up 58.8% rising
50 Bulgaria 18.8% 2017 down 0.6% rising
51 Spain 18.5% 2017 down 25.4% falling
52 Finland 18.2% 2017 down 43.1% falling
53 Chile 17.9% 2017 up 36.9% rising
54 Saint Lucia 17.8% 2018 up 4.0% falling
55 Côte d'Ivoire 16.9% 2018 down 62.8% falling
56 Jordan 16.9% 2019 down 1.8% falling
57 Romania 16.8% 2017 up 9.3% flat
58 Lithuania 16.6% 2017 down 19.1% falling
59 Algeria 16.6% 2006 down 44.9% falling
60 Colombia 16.5% 2018 up 14.9% rising
61 Iceland 16.5% 2017 down 11.3% falling
62 Mexico 15.8% 2017 down 7.7% flat
63 Dominican Republic 15.8% 2019 up 193.4% volatile
64 Uruguay 15.8% 2018 up 52.8% rising
65 Mongolia 15.7% 2015 up 83.3% rising
66 Paraguay 14.1% 2016 down 11.3% rising
67 Thailand 14.1% 2013 down 31.4% falling
68 Türkiye 14.0% 2006 up 0.2% flat
69 Niger 13.8% 2017 down 87.0% falling
70 Andorra 13.8% 2019 up 17.9% rising
71 Bermuda 13.6% 2015 down 11.5% flat
72 El Salvador 12.9% 2018 up 8.7% rising
73 Australia 12.5% 2017 down 11.7% falling
74 Nepal 11.8% 2015 up 26.6% rising
75 Ireland 11.7% 2017 down 54.5% rising
76 Indonesia 11.7% 2015 up 13.0% rising
77 Syria 10.6% 2012 down 63.1% falling
78 Afghanistan 10.6% 2017 down 27.0% falling
79 Philippines 10.1% 2009 up 1.0% falling
80 Liechtenstein 9.6% 2008 up 31.2% rising
81 Lebanon 9.1% 2011 down 24.3% falling
82 Madagascar 8.8% 2012 down 56.1% falling
83 Monaco 7.0% 2016 down 22.9% rising
84 Sri Lanka 6.4% 2018 down 14.4% rising
85 Ecuador 5.0% 2018 up 41.4% rising
86 Guatemala 4.5% 2019 down 22.7% falling

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Initial government funding per upper secondary student as a by country. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 30 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/initial-government-funding-per-upper-secondary-student-as-a-percentage-of-gdp-per-capita/

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About this data

Indicator
Initial government funding per upper secondary student as a percentage of GDP per capita
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
86 places, 1,018 data points, 1995–2019
Last refreshed

Total general (local, regional and central, current and capital) initial government funding of education per student, which includes transfers paid (such as scholarships to students), but excludes transfers received, in this case international transfers to government for education (when foreign donors provide education sector budget support or other support integrated in the government budget). Calculation Method: Total general (local, regional and central) government expenditure (current and capital) on a given level of education (primary, secondary, etc) minus international transfers to government for education, divided by the number of student enrolled at that level of education. This is then expressed as a share of GDP per capita. 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. There are also cases where it may not be possible to separate international transfers to government from general government expenditure on education, in which cases they have not been subtracted in the formula. For more information, consult the UNESCO Institute of Statistics website: http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/