Data / Government spending on education, share of government spending / United Kingdom

Government spending on education, share of government spending in United Kingdom

Government spending on education, share of government spending in the United Kingdom was 11.8% in 2021, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics. That is down 2.2 pts from 2020.

202111.8%
Change on 2020-2.2 pts
Series high142020
Series low10.21986
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Government spending on education, share of government spending in United Kingdom, 1981 to 2021

10111213141519811987199420012007201420211981: 12.7 %1982: 11.6 %1983: 11.4 %1984: 11.2 %1985: 10.5 %1986: 10.2 %1987: 10.5 %1988: 10.7 %1989: 11.1 %1990: 11.1 %1991: 10.8 %1992: 11.1 %1994: 11.8 %1995: 11.9 %1996: 11.6 %1998: 12.1 %1999: 11.6 %2000: 11.9 %2001: 12.1 %2002: 13.3 %2003: 13.4 %2004: 12.7 %2005: 13 %2006: 12.9 %2007: 12.8 %2008: 12.7 %2009: 12.4 %2010: 12.8 %2011: 12.5 %2013: 12.7 %2014: 13.4 %2015: 13.5 %2016: 13.4 %2017: 13.8 %2018: 13.3 %2019: 13.5 %2020: 14 %2021: 11.8 %
%. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Government expenditure on education, total, % of government expenditure (SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS) via World Bank, World Development Indicators. Retrieved 2026-10-12, published 2026-10-08.
All 38 values
Period%
202111.8
202014
201913.5
201813.3
201713.8
201613.4
201513.5
201413.4
201312.7
201112.5
201012.8
200912.4
200812.7
200712.8
200612.9
200513
200412.7
200313.4
200213.3
200112.1
200011.9
199911.6
199812.1
199611.6
199511.9
199411.8
199211.1
199110.8
199011.1
198911.1
198810.7
198710.5
198610.2
198510.5
198411.2
198311.4
198211.6
198112.7

Rankings

Definition

General government expenditure on education as a percentage of total general government expenditure on all sectors. Calculated and published by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

A share of the government budget, not of GDP; for that see education_expenditure_gdp. UIS divides by total government spending from IMF figures or, for some countries, from government budget documents, so a recent year can be revised. Countries only; UIS publishes no World figure.

How to cite

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). Government expenditure on education, total, % of government expenditure (SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. UIS does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2026). Government expenditure on education, total, % of government expenditure (SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS) (Government spending on education, share of government spending, United Kingdom, 1981 to 2021) [Data set]. World Bank, World Development Indicators. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS

MLA 9

Government expenditure on education, total, % of government expenditure (SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS), Government spending on education, share of government spending, United Kingdom, 1981 to 2021. UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 8 Oct. 2026, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS. World Bank, World Development Indicators, https://data.worldbank.org. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/education-spending-government-share/united-kingdom. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. 2026. Government expenditure on education, total, % of government expenditure (SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS). Government spending on education, share of government spending, United Kingdom, 1981 to 2021. Dataset. Distributed by World Bank, World Development Indicators. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/education-spending-government-share/united-kingdom.

Harvard

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) Government expenditure on education, total, % of government expenditure (SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS), Government spending on education, share of government spending, United Kingdom, 1981 to 2021 [Dataset]. Via World Bank, World Development Indicators. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/education-spending-government-share/united-kingdom (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{unesco_government_spending_on_education_2021,
  author = {{UNESCO Institute for Statistics}},
  title = {{Government expenditure on education, total, \% of government expenditure (SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS): Government spending on education, share of government spending, United Kingdom, 1981 to 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  publisher = {World Bank, World Development Indicators},
  url = {https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Retrieved through World Bank, World Development Indicators (https://data.worldbank.org). Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/education-spending-government-share/united-kingdom. Publisher attribution: Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). Government expenditure on education, total, \% of government expenditure (SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. UIS does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - UNESCO Institute for Statistics
TI  - Government expenditure on education, total, % of government expenditure (SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS): Government spending on education, share of government spending, United Kingdom, 1981 to 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/08
PB  - World Bank, World Development Indicators
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/education-spending-government-share/united-kingdom
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Retrieved through World Bank, World Development Indicators (https://data.worldbank.org).
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/education-spending-government-share/united-kingdom.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). Government expenditure on education, total, % of government expenditure (SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. UIS does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.
ER  -
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Questions

What is the government spending on education, share of government spending in United Kingdom?

Government spending on education, share of government spending in the United Kingdom was 11.8% in 2021, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics. That is down 2.2 pts from 2020.

Where does this figure come from?

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Government expenditure on education, total, % of government expenditure (SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS). Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-12.

What was the highest government spending on education, share of government spending in United Kingdom?

14% in 2020, the highest value since 1981 in this series.

Government spending on education, share of government spending in other countries

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