Government spending on education overall vs. primary education in Greece
Greece: Government spending on education overall vs. primary education was 3.4% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Government spending on education overall vs. primary education in Greece, 1970–2022
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Greece recorded 3.4% for government spending on education overall vs. primary education in 2022.
That represents a change of down 4.9% on the previous year and down 8.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government spending on education overall vs. primary education in Greece peaked at 4.1% in 2005 and was at its lowest, 1.1%, in 1973.
Greece ranks 131st of 199 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 31 years of available data.
Government spending on education overall vs. primary education in Greece, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 1.6% | — |
| 1971 | 1.3% | -15.8% |
| 1973 | 1.1% | -14.6% |
| 1974 | 1.4% | +20.1% |
| 1975 | 1.5% | +9.3% |
| 1976 | 1.5% | -0.9% |
| 1977 | 1.5% | +3.1% |
| 1978 | 1.7% | +12.9% |
| 1981 | 1.7% | +0.4% |
| 1982 | 1.7% | -0.4% |
| 1983 | 1.7% | +0.1% |
| 1984 | 1.8% | +7.2% |
| 1986 | 1.9% | +1.3% |
| 1987 | 1.9% | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 1.9% | +1.9% |
| 1989 | 2.0% | +7.8% |
| 1990 | 2.1% | +1.5% |
| 1991 | 2.0% | -5.5% |
| 1998 | 3.0% | +52.5% |
| 1999 | 3.1% | +5.2% |
| 2000 | 3.4% | +6.4% |
| 2001 | 3.5% | +3.6% |
| 2002 | 3.5% | +1.4% |
| 2003 | 3.5% | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 3.8% | +6.7% |
| 2005 | 4.1% | +7.8% |
| 2015 | 3.7% | -9.2% |
| 2017 | 3.5% | -5.8% |
| 2018 | 3.6% | +3.1% |
| 2019 | 3.6% | -0.7% |
| 2022 | 3.4% | -4.9% |
Greece compared with similar countries
- Greece's 3.4% is below the median for high income countries, which is 4.4%, 77% of the median. (72 countries reporting)
- Greece's 3.4% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 4.5%, 75% of the median. (51 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Government spending on education overall vs. primary education in Greece changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | +52.5% | 2.0% | 3.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1.4% | 1.1% | 1.7% | 8 |
| 1980s | 1.8% | 1.7% | 2.0% | 8 |
| 1990s | 2.5% | 2.0% | 3.1% | 4 |
| 2000s | 3.6% | 3.4% | 4.1% | 6 |
| 2010s | 3.6% | 3.5% | 3.7% | 4 |
| 2020s | 3.4% | 3.4% | 3.4% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Greece
More reference data data for Greece
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.4067 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.38 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 2.86 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.2183 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 2.86 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.36 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.7298 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 4.78 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 11.6 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.19 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government spending on education overall vs. primary education in Greece?
- Government spending on education overall vs. primary education in Greece was 3.4% in 2022, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest government spending on education overall vs. primary education recorded in Greece?
- The highest recorded value was 4.1% in 2005.
- What is the lowest government spending on education overall vs. primary education recorded in Greece?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.1% in 1973.
- How does Greece rank for government spending on education overall vs. primary education?
- Greece ranks 131st out of 199 countries with data for 2022.
- Is government spending on education overall vs. primary education rising or falling in Greece?
- Over the last ten years it is down 8.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Greece data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Government spending on education overall vs. primary education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
Total annual general government spending on all levels of education, expressed as a percentage of GDP.