* indicates monthly or quarterly data series

Public spending on education, percent of GDP, 2021:

The average for 2021 based on 40 countries was 4.78 percent. The highest value was in Iceland: 7.73 percent and the lowest value was in Monaco: 1.42 percent. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Measure: percent; Source: UNESCO
Select indicator
* indicates monthly or quarterly data series


Countries Education spending, percent of GDP, 2021 Global rank Available data
Iceland 7.73 1 1990 - 2021
Sweden 6.68 2 1979 - 2021
Belgium 6.23 3 1975 - 2021
Denmark 6.04 4 1970 - 2021
Estonia 5.91 5 1995 - 2021
Moldova 5.82 6 1996 - 2022
Ukraine 5.74 7 1970 - 2021
Latvia 5.7 8 1996 - 2021
Finland 5.69 9 1970 - 2021
Slovenia 5.67 10 1995 - 2021
Malta 5.63 11 1971 - 2021
Cyprus 5.62 12 1975 - 2021
UK 5.33 13 1971 - 2021
France 5.25 14 1970 - 2021
Croatia 5.2 15 2000 - 2021
Netherlands 5.14 16 1970 - 2021
Czechia 5.05 17 1992 - 2021
Norway 5.04 18 1972 - 2021
Switzerland 5.04 19 1980 - 2021
Hungary 5 20 1991 - 2021
Austria 4.99 21 1970 - 2021
Poland 4.94 22 1991 - 2021
Lithuania 4.84 23 1995 - 2021
Portugal 4.71 24 1973 - 2021
Luxembourg 4.64 25 1970 - 2021
Belarus 4.61 26 1999 - 2021
Spain 4.59 27 1970 - 2021
Germany 4.53 28 1993 - 2021
Bulgaria 4.49 29 1980 - 2021
Slovakia 4.4 30 1992 - 2021
Italy 4.13 31 1970 - 2021
Greece 4.06 32 1970 - 2021
Serbia 3.3 33 2007 - 2021
Romania 3.25 34 1996 - 2021
San Marino 3.11 35 2002 - 2021
Albania 3.09 36 1994 - 2021
Ireland 2.98 37 1971 - 2021
Turkey 2.85 38 1978 - 2021
Andorra 2.58 39 1997 - 2022
Monaco 1.42 40 1988 - 2021



Definition: General government expenditure on education (current, capital, and transfers) is expressed as a percentage of GDP. It includes expenditure funded by transfers from international sources to government. General government usually refers to local, regional and central governments.

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