* indicates monthly or quarterly data series

Public spending on education, percent of GDP, 2021:

The average for 2021 based on 38 countries was 4.28 percent. The highest value was in Namibia: 10.03 percent and the lowest value was in Mauritania: 1.75 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
Namibia 10.03 1 1999 - 2022
Sierra Leone 9.44 2 2000 - 2022
Lesotho 7.51 3 1971 - 2022
Mozambique 7.03 4 1998 - 2021
South Africa 6.56 5 1987 - 2022
Cape Verde 6.04 6 1998 - 2021
Seychelles 5.62 7 1970 - 2022
Rwanda 5.59 8 1977 - 2022
Senegal 5.59 9 1998 - 2022
S.T.&Principe 5.52 10 2002 - 2022
Swaziland 5.29 11 1976 - 2022
Burkina Faso 5.22 12 1978 - 2022
Burundi 4.87 13 1979 - 2021
Mauritius 4.67 14 1977 - 2022
Kenya 4.59 15 1971 - 2022
Mali 4.36 16 1978 - 2022
Togo 4.23 17 1970 - 2022
Ethiopia 4.07 18 1982 - 2022
Niger 3.82 19 1971 - 2022
R. of Congo 3.67 20 1970 - 2022
Ghana 3.42 21 1971 - 2022
Ivory Coast 3.37 22 1970 - 2022
Madagascar 3.2 23 1972 - 2022
Benin 3.19 24 1998 - 2022
Tanzania 3.12 25 1989 - 2022
Zambia 3.11 26 1970 - 2022
Gambia 2.94 27 1985 - 2022
Chad 2.89 28 1997 - 2022
Cameroon 2.83 29 1971 - 2022
Gabon 2.7 30 1992 - 2022
DR Congo 2.66 31 1980 - 2022
Uganda 2.64 32 1971 - 2022
Liberia 2.53 33 2008 - 2022
Angola 2.3 34 1985 - 2022
Comoros 2.27 35 1998 - 2022
Guinea 2.04 36 1991 - 2022
C.A. Republic 1.87 37 1978 - 2022
Mauritania 1.75 38 1997 - 2022



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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