Government spending on education overall vs. primary education in Macao
Macao: Government spending on education overall vs. primary education was 3.5% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Government spending on education overall vs. primary education in Macao, 1998–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2023, government spending on education overall vs. primary education in Macao stood at 3.5%.
That represents a change of down 42.2% on the previous year and up 70.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government spending on education overall vs. primary education in Macao peaked at 6.4% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 2.0%, in 2007.
Macao ranks 127th of 199 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
Government spending on education overall vs. primary education in Macao, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 3.4% | — |
| 1999 | 3.3% | -0.4% |
| 2000 | 3.3% | -0.7% |
| 2001 | 2.7% | -18.1% |
| 2002 | 2.8% | +4.7% |
| 2003 | 2.8% | -2.2% |
| 2004 | 2.2% | -19.7% |
| 2005 | 2.3% | +2.0% |
| 2006 | 2.2% | -3.7% |
| 2007 | 2.0% | -6.9% |
| 2008 | 2.2% | +7.5% |
| 2009 | 2.5% | +15.3% |
| 2010 | 2.6% | +3.4% |
| 2011 | 2.7% | +2.2% |
| 2012 | 3.3% | +24.3% |
| 2013 | 2.1% | -38.3% |
| 2014 | 2.0% | -0.1% |
| 2015 | 3.0% | +46.6% |
| 2016 | 3.1% | +3.2% |
| 2017 | 2.7% | -12.6% |
| 2018 | 2.7% | +0.9% |
| 2019 | 3.1% | +12.1% |
| 2020 | 6.4% | +108.4% |
| 2021 | 5.1% | -20.1% |
| 2022 | 6.1% | +18.6% |
| 2023 | 3.5% | -42.2% |
Macao compared with similar countries
- Macao's 3.5% is below the median for high income countries, which is 4.4%, 80% of the median. (72 countries reporting)
- Macao's 3.5% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 4.2%, 82% of the median. (31 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Government spending on education overall vs. primary education in Macao 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +108.4% | 3.1% | 6.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 3.3% | 3.3% | 3.4% | 2 |
| 2000s | 2.5% | 2.0% | 3.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.7% | 2.0% | 3.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.3% | 3.5% | 6.4% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Macao
More reference data data for Macao
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0039 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0032 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.0073 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Manure Management 1.23 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - Manure Management 1.52 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CH4) - IPCC Agriculture 0.0544 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CH4) - Manure Management 0.0544 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Manure left on 4.86 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - IPCC Agriculture 9.8 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0131 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government spending on education overall vs. primary education in Macao?
- Government spending on education overall vs. primary education in Macao was 3.5% in 2023, 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 Macao?
- The highest recorded value was 6.4% in 2020.
- What is the lowest government spending on education overall vs. primary education recorded in Macao?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.0% in 2007.
- How does Macao rank for government spending on education overall vs. primary education?
- Macao ranks 127th out of 199 countries with data for 2023.
- Is government spending on education overall vs. primary education rising or falling in Macao?
- Over the last ten years it is up 70.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Macao 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
CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Total annual general government spending on all levels of education, expressed as a percentage of GDP.