Education Expenditure (% of GDP) 2023

Education expenditure measures the percentage of GDP spent on education. Compare countries and explore interactive rankings and trends.

218 data points•Updated 3/28/2026•Global Coverage•CIA World Factbook•

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Complete Data Rankings

Rank
1	Namibia	9.6 % of GDP
2	Sierra Leone	9.1 % of GDP
3	Botswana	8.7 % of GDP
4	Lesotho	8.7 % of GDP
5	Cabo Verde	7.6 % of GDP
6	Tunisia	7.3 % of GDP
7	Algeria	7 % of GDP
8	Morocco	6.8 % of GDP
9	South Africa	6.6 % of GDP
10	Mozambique	6.3 % of GDP
11	Senegal	5.5 % of GDP
12	Burkina Faso	5.5 % of GDP
13	Seychelles	5.2 % of GDP
14	Burundi	5 % of GDP
15	Sao Tome and Principe	5 % of GDP
16	Eswatini	5 % of GDP
17	Mauritius	4.9 % of GDP
18	Kenya	4.8 % of GDP
19	Congo	4.5 % of GDP
20	Ethiopia	4.5 % of GDP
21	Mali	4.4 % of GDP
22	Togo	4 % of GDP
23	Ghana	3.9 % of GDP
24	Zimbabwe	3.9 % of GDP
25	Niger	3.8 % of GDP
26	Rwanda	3.8 % of GDP
27	Zambia	3.7 % of GDP
28	Djibouti	3.6 % of GDP
29	Côte d'Ivoire	3.4 % of GDP
30	Tanzania	3.3 % of GDP
31	Cameroon	3.2 % of GDP
32	Gabon	3.2 % of GDP
33	Madagascar	3.1 % of GDP
34	Benin	3 % of GDP
35	Chad	2.9 % of GDP
36	Malawi	2.9 % of GDP
37	Gambia	2.8 % of GDP
38	Congo, Democratic Republic of the	2.7 % of GDP
39	Liberia	2.7 % of GDP
40	Guinea-Bissau	2.7 % of GDP
41	Uganda	2.7 % of GDP
42	Comoros	2.6 % of GDP
43	Egypt	2.5 % of GDP
44	Angola	2.4 % of GDP
45	Central African Republic	2.2 % of GDP
46	Equatorial Guinea	NaN % of GDP
47	Eritrea	NaN % of GDP
48	Guinea	2.2 % of GDP
49	Libya	NaN % of GDP
50	Mauritania	1.9 % of GDP
51	South Sudan	1.5 % of GDP
52	Nigeria	0.5 % of GDP
53	Saint Helena	NaN % of GDP
54	Somalia	0.3 % of GDP
55	American Samoa	NaN % of GDP
56	Solomon Islands	12.8 % of GDP
57	Kiribati	12.4 % of GDP
58	Nauru	7.1 % of GDP
59	Tonga	6.6 % of GDP
60	Australia	6.1 % of GDP
61	Northern Mariana Islands	NaN % of GDP
62	Belize	8.7 % of GDP
63	Curaçao	7.4 % of GDP
64	Costa Rica	6.7 % of GDP
65	Barbados	6.5 % of GDP
66	Kyrgyzstan	6.2 % of GDP
67	New Zealand	6 % of GDP
68	Tajikistan	5.9 % of GDP
69	Fiji	5.7 % of GDP
70	Aruba	5.5 % of GDP
71	Dominica	5.5 % of GDP
72	Samoa	4.8 % of GDP
73	Cook Islands	4.6 % of GDP
74	French Polynesia	NaN % of GDP
75	Guam	NaN % of GDP
76	New Caledonia	NaN % of GDP
77	Niue	NaN % of GDP
78	Honduras	6.4 % of GDP
79	Jamaica	6 % of GDP
80	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	5.7 % of GDP
81	Montserrat	5.4 % of GDP
82	Dominican Republic	4.6 % of GDP
83	Nicaragua	4.6 % of GDP
84	Turks and Caicos Islands	4.5 % of GDP
85	Kazakhstan	4.5 % of GDP
86	El Salvador	4.1 % of GDP
87	Trinidad and Tobago	4.1 % of GDP
88	Anguilla	4 % of GDP
89	Panama	3.9 % of GDP
90	Russia	3.7 % of GDP
91	Grenada	3.6 % of GDP
92	Puerto Rico	3.6 % of GDP
93	Saint Lucia	3.6 % of GDP
94	Guatemala	3.1 % of GDP
95	Turkmenistan	3.1 % of GDP
96	Bahamas	2.8 % of GDP
97	British Virgin Islands	2.6 % of GDP
98	Saint Kitts and Nevis	2.5 % of GDP
99	Vanuatu	2.2 % of GDP
100	Tokelau	NaN % of GDP
101	Tuvalu	NaN % of GDP
102	Wallis and Futuna Islands	NaN % of GDP
103	Antigua and Barbuda	3.8 % of GDP
104	Cayman Islands	2.1 % of GDP
105	Cuba	NaN % of GDP
106	Haiti	1.4 % of GDP
107	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	NaN % of GDP
108	Saint Martin (French part)	NaN % of GDP
109	Saint Barthélemy	NaN % of GDP
110	United States Virgin Islands	NaN % of GDP
111	Iceland	7.7 % of GDP
112	Faroe Islands	7.6 % of GDP
113	Belgium	6.7 % of GDP
114	Estonia	6.6 % of GDP
115	Denmark	6.4 % of GDP
116	Republic of Moldova	6.4 % of GDP
117	Cyprus	6.1 % of GDP
118	Latvia	6 % of GDP
119	Finland	5.9 % of GDP
120	Malta	5.9 % of GDP
121	Norway	5.9 % of GDP
122	France	5.5 % of GDP
123	Croatia	5.5 % of GDP
124	Netherlands	5.3 % of GDP
125	Poland	5.2 % of GDP
126	Austria	5.1 % of GDP
127	Czech Republic	5.1 % of GDP
128	Luxembourg	5 % of GDP
129	Portugal	5 % of GDP
130	Uzbekistan	4.9 % of GDP
131	Hungary	4.8 % of GDP
132	South Korea	4.7 % of GDP
133	Mongolia	4.7 % of GDP
134	Belarus	4.7 % of GDP
135	Germany	4.7 % of GDP
136	Slovakia	4.6 % of GDP
137	Brunei Darussalam	4.4 % of GDP
138	Greece	4.4 % of GDP
139	Italy	4.3 % of GDP
140	Timor-Leste	4.2 % of GDP
141	Vietnam	4.1 % of GDP
142	Bulgaria	4 % of GDP
143	Lithuania	4 % of GDP
144	Malaysia	3.9 % of GDP
145	Philippines	3.7 % of GDP
146	China	3.6 % of GDP
147	Indonesia	3.5 % of GDP
148	Japan	3.4 % of GDP
149	Thailand	3.2 % of GDP
150	Cambodia	3.1 % of GDP
151	Albania	3.1 % of GDP
152	Ireland	3.1 % of GDP
153	Andorra	2.9 % of GDP
154	Singapore	2.8 % of GDP
155	Laos	2.3 % of GDP
156	Myanmar	2.1 % of GDP
157	North Korea	NaN % of GDP
158	Papua New Guinea	1.4 % of GDP
159	Taiwan	NaN % of GDP
160	Bosnia and Herzegovina	NaN % of GDP
161	Gibraltar	NaN % of GDP
162	Liechtenstein	2.6 % of GDP
163	Montenegro	NaN % of GDP
164	North Macedonia	NaN % of GDP
165	Greenland	10.2 % of GDP
166	Bolivia	9.8 % of GDP
167	Saudi Arabia	7.8 % of GDP
168	Sweden	7.2 % of GDP
169	Israel	7.1 % of GDP
170	Bhutan	7 % of GDP
171	Kuwait	6.6 % of GDP
172	United States	6.1 % of GDP
173	Brazil	6 % of GDP
174	Slovenia	5.8 % of GDP
175	Maldives	5.8 % of GDP
176	Chile	5.6 % of GDP
177	United Kingdom	5.5 % of GDP
178	Ukraine	5.4 % of GDP
179	Oman	5.4 % of GDP
180	Switzerland	5.2 % of GDP
181	Canada	5.2 % of GDP
182	Argentina	5 % of GDP
183	Suriname	5 % of GDP
184	Colombia	4.9 % of GDP
185	Iraq	4.7 % of GDP
186	Spain	4.6 % of GDP
187	Uruguay	4.6 % of GDP
188	Guyana	4.5 % of GDP
189	India	4.5 % of GDP
190	Azerbaijan	4.3 % of GDP
191	Mexico	4.3 % of GDP
192	Nepal	4.2 % of GDP
193	Peru	4 % of GDP
194	United Arab Emirates	3.9 % of GDP
195	Romania	3.7 % of GDP
196	Ecuador	3.7 % of GDP
197	Serbia	3.6 % of GDP
198	Georgia	3.6 % of GDP
199	Iran	3.6 % of GDP
200	San Marino	3.4 % of GDP
201	Holy See	NaN % of GDP
202	Turkey	3.4 % of GDP
203	Paraguay	3.3 % of GDP
204	Jordan	3.2 % of GDP
205	Qatar	3.2 % of GDP
206	Bahrain	2.2 % of GDP
207	Bermuda	1.9 % of GDP
208	Lebanon	1.7 % of GDP
209	Syrian Arab Republic	NaN % of GDP
210	Yemen	NaN % of GDP
211	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	NaN % of GDP
212	Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	NaN % of GDP
213	Afghanistan	2.9 % of GDP
214	Pakistan	2.4 % of GDP
215	Bangladesh	2.1 % of GDP
216	Sri Lanka	1.9 % of GDP
217	Venezuela	1.3 % of GDP
218	Monaco	1.2 % of GDP

↑Top 10 Countries

Analysis: These countries represent the highest values in this dataset, showcasing significant scale and impact on global statistics.

↓Bottom 10 Countries

Context: These countries or territories have the lowest values, often due to geographic size, administrative status, or specific characteristics.

Analysis & Context

In 2023, the Solomon Islands leads the world in Education Expenditure (% of GDP) with a remarkable 12.8%, while the global range for this metric spans from a low of 0.3% to a high of 12.8%. The global average of education expenditure as a percentage of GDP stands at 4.61%, providing a benchmark for understanding how countries prioritize education relative to their economic output.

High Investment in Education: Policy and Economic Implications

The significant investment in education by countries like the Solomon Islands at 12.8% and Kiribati at 12.4% reflects a strategic policy choice to prioritize education. This high expenditure can be attributed to a commitment to improve educational outcomes and address educational disparities. In these nations, education is seen as a key driver for economic development and social well-being. For instance, Greenland and Bolivia, with expenditures of 10.2% and 9.8% respectively, also reflect similar policy priorities, focusing on education as a tool for long-term economic growth and stability.

Low Education Expenditure: Economic Challenges and Prioritization

On the opposite end of the spectrum, countries like Somalia and Nigeria spend only 0.3% and 0.5% of their GDP on education, respectively. This limited investment often stems from broader economic challenges, such as political instability, limited fiscal capacity, and competing budgetary needs. In Nigeria, despite being Africa's largest economy, the low expenditure highlights the ongoing struggle to allocate sufficient resources to education amid other pressing demands. Similarly, in South Sudan and Lebanon, where education expenditure is 1.5% and 1.7%, the focus remains on addressing immediate economic and humanitarian challenges.

Middle Ground: Balancing Act in Education Expenditure

Countries with expenditure around the global median, such as Saudi Arabia at 7.8%, demonstrate a balanced approach to education funding. These nations often have robust economies that allow for moderate investment in education, which supports both the development of human capital and economic diversification. In Saudi Arabia, for example, such investment aligns with broader goals of transitioning from an oil-based economy to one that is knowledge-based, leveraging education as a cornerstone for future growth.

Year-over-Year Stability: Examining Static Trends

Interestingly, the data for 2023 shows no significant year-over-year changes in education expenditure across the globe. Countries such as the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, and Greenland maintained their previous year's expenditure levels, indicating a period of fiscal stability or potentially a strategic decision to sustain current investment levels. This static trend might suggest that many countries have reached a plateau in their education spending relative to GDP, possibly due to constrained economic conditions or a strategic decision to maintain existing educational infrastructure and programs without further expansion.

Overall, the distribution of Education Expenditure (% of GDP) in 2023 highlights the diverse approaches countries take towards funding education, influenced by economic conditions, policy priorities, and strategic development goals. While some nations prioritize education as a critical investment for future growth, others face challenges that limit their ability to allocate more resources to this vital sector.

Data Source

CIA World Factbook

The World Factbook, also known as the CIA World Factbook, was a reference resource produced by the US Central Intelligence Agency between 1962 and 2026 with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. From 1971 it was not classified, and available to the public in print since 1975, initially by the CIA, and later the Government Publishing Office.

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Historical Data by Year

Explore Education Expenditure (% of GDP) data across different years. Compare trends and see how statistics have changed over time.

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