Data / Rankings / Government spending on education, share of GDP / Countries

Countries by government spending on education, share of GDP

Kiribati had the highest government spending on education, share of GDP of 169 countries in 2020, at 16.2% of GDP. Nigeria had the lowest, at 0.4% of GDP. The median was 4.4% of GDP. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

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Highest16.2Kiribati
Lowest0.4Nigeria
Median4.4169 countries

Map of countries, 2020

United Arab Emirates: 4 % of GDPAntigua and Barbuda: 3 % of GDPAlbania: 3.3 % of GDPArmenia: 2.7 % of GDPAngola: 2.7 % of GDPArgentina: 5.3 % of GDPAustria: 5.6 % of GDPAustralia: 5.4 % of GDPAzerbaijan: 4.3 % of GDPBosnia and Herzegovina: 3 % of GDPBangladesh: 2.1 % of GDPBelgium: 6.8 % of GDPBurkina Faso: 5.2 % of GDPBulgaria: 4.5 % of GDPBurundi: 5.3 % of GDPBenin: 2.9 % of GDPBolivia: 8.4 % of GDPBrazil: 5.8 % of GDPBahamas: 3.7 % of GDPBhutan: 5.5 % of GDPBotswana: 8.1 % of GDPBelarus: 4.9 % of GDPBelize: 5.2 % of GDPCanada: 4.9 % of GDPDemocratic Republic of the Congo: 2.6 % of GDPCentral African Republic: 2.1 % of GDPRepublic of the Congo: 4.2 % of GDPSwitzerland: 5.3 % of GDPCôte d’Ivoire: 3.8 % of GDPChile: 5.6 % of GDPCameroon: 3.1 % of GDPColombia: 5.3 % of GDPCosta Rica: 6.6 % of GDPCuba: 11.5 % of GDPCape Verde: 7.1 % of GDPCyprus: 5.6 % of GDPCzechia: 4.6 % of GDPGermany: 5.5 % of GDPDenmark: 7.4 % of GDPDominican Republic: 4.5 % of GDPAlgeria: 6.2 % of GDPEcuador: 4.3 % of GDPEstonia: 5.4 % of GDPSpain: 4.9 % of GDPEthiopia: 4.1 % of GDPFinland: 6.7 % of GDPFiji: 5.8 % of GDPFrance: 5.7 % of GDPGabon: 3.4 % of GDPUnited Kingdom: 5.4 % of GDPGeorgia: 3.8 % of GDPGhana: 3.4 % of GDPGambia: 2.9 % of GDPGuinea: 2.4 % of GDPGuatemala: 3.3 % of GDPHong Kong: 4.4 % of GDPHonduras: 6.1 % of GDPCroatia: 4.4 % of GDPHaiti: 1.1 % of GDPHungary: 4.1 % of GDPIndonesia: 1 % of GDPIreland: 3.2 % of GDPIsrael: 6.5 % of GDPIndia: 4.3 % of GDPIran: 3.2 % of GDPIceland: 8.6 % of GDPItaly: 4.4 % of GDPJamaica: 5.4 % of GDPJordan: 3.6 % of GDPJapan: 3.3 % of GDPKenya: 5 % of GDPKyrgyzstan: 5.7 % of GDPCambodia: 2.2 % of GDPKiribati: 16.2 % of GDPSouth Korea: 4.5 % of GDPKuwait: 6.2 % of GDPCayman Islands: 1.5 % of GDPKazakhstan: 4.4 % of GDPLaos: 1.9 % of GDPLebanon: 2.4 % of GDPSri Lanka: 1.6 % of GDPLiberia: 2.1 % of GDPLithuania: 4.5 % of GDPLuxembourg: 3.9 % of GDPLatvia: 5 % of GDPMorocco: 6.3 % of GDPMoldova: 6.6 % of GDPMadagascar: 3.3 % of GDPMali: 3.3 % of GDPMauritania: 1.8 % of GDPMauritius: 4.4 % of GDPMexico: 4.5 % of GDPMalaysia: 3.9 % of GDPMozambique: 6.2 % of GDPNamibia: 9.3 % of GDPNiger: 3.8 % of GDPNigeria: 0.4 % of GDPNicaragua: 4.6 % of GDPNetherlands: 5.3 % of GDPNorway: 8.4 % of GDPNepal: 4.2 % of GDPNew Zealand: 5.6 % of GDPOman: 6.9 % of GDPPanama: 4.3 % of GDPPeru: 4.3 % of GDPPapua New Guinea: 0.9 % of GDPPhilippines: 3.9 % of GDPPakistan: 2.1 % of GDPPoland: 4.8 % of GDPPuerto Rico: 4.3 % of GDPPortugal: 4.9 % of GDPPalau: 3.5 % of GDPParaguay: 3.9 % of GDPQatar: 3.2 % of GDPRomania: 3.6 % of GDPRussia: 4 % of GDPRwanda: 3.3 % of GDPSolomon Islands: 9.6 % of GDPSweden: 8 % of GDPSingapore: 2.7 % of GDPSlovenia: 5.4 % of GDPSlovakia: 4.7 % of GDPSierra Leone: 5.3 % of GDPSenegal: 5.7 % of GDPSuriname: 4.6 % of GDPEl Salvador: 3.7 % of GDPEswatini: 5.3 % of GDPChad: 2.7 % of GDPTogo: 4.1 % of GDPThailand: 3.2 % of GDPTajikistan: 5.1 % of GDPTimor-Leste: 3.7 % of GDPTurkmenistan: 3.8 % of GDPTunisia: 7.3 % of GDPTürkiye: 4 % of GDPTrinidad and Tobago: 4.2 % of GDPTanzania: 3.2 % of GDPUkraine: 5.4 % of GDPUganda: 2.6 % of GDPUnited States: 5.4 % of GDPUruguay: 4.6 % of GDPUzbekistan: 4.4 % of GDPVietnam: 3.2 % of GDPVanuatu: 2.2 % of GDPSamoa: 4.5 % of GDPSouth Africa: 6.2 % of GDPZambia: 3.9 % of GDP
  • Under 3
  • 3 to 3.8
  • 3.8 to 4.4
  • 4.4 to 5.2
  • 5.2 to 5.8
  • 5.8 and over
  • No data
% of GDP, 2020. Hatched areas have no value for this period. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Government expenditure on education, total, % of GDP (SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS) via World Bank, World Development Indicators. Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

Top 40 countries, 2020

Kiribati: 16.2 % of GDPKiribati16.2Tuvalu: 14.5 % of GDPTuvalu14.5Marshall Islands: 13.8 % of GDPMarshall Islands13.8Micronesia: 11.6 % of GDPMicronesia11.6Cuba: 11.5 % of GDPCuba11.5Solomon Islands: 9.6 % of GDPSolomon Islands9.6Namibia: 9.3 % of GDPNamibia9.3Iceland: 8.6 % of GDPIceland8.6Bolivia: 8.4 % of GDPBolivia8.4Norway: 8.4 % of GDPNorway8.4Botswana: 8.1 % of GDPBotswana8.1Sweden: 8 % of GDPSweden8Denmark: 7.4 % of GDPDenmark7.4Tunisia: 7.3 % of GDPTunisia7.3Curaçao: 7.1 % of GDPCuraçao7.1Cape Verde: 7.1 % of GDPCape Verde7.1Oman: 6.9 % of GDPOman6.9Belgium: 6.8 % of GDPBelgium6.8Finland: 6.7 % of GDPFinland6.7Costa Rica: 6.6 % of GDPCosta Rica6.6Moldova: 6.6 % of GDPMoldova6.6Israel: 6.5 % of GDPIsrael6.5Macao: 6.4 % of GDPMacao6.4Morocco: 6.3 % of GDPMorocco6.3Kuwait: 6.2 % of GDPKuwait6.2Algeria: 6.2 % of GDPAlgeria6.2South Africa: 6.2 % of GDPSouth Africa6.2Mozambique: 6.2 % of GDPMozambique6.2Honduras: 6.1 % of GDPHonduras6.1Nauru: 5.9 % of GDPNauru5.9Maldives: 5.8 % of GDPMaldives5.8Fiji: 5.8 % of GDPFiji5.8Brazil: 5.8 % of GDPBrazil5.8Kyrgyzstan: 5.7 % of GDPKyrgyzstan5.7Senegal: 5.7 % of GDPSenegal5.7France: 5.7 % of GDPFrance5.7New Zealand: 5.6 % of GDPNew Zealand5.6Chile: 5.6 % of GDPChile5.6Austria: 5.6 % of GDPAustria5.6Cyprus: 5.6 % of GDPCyprus5.6Kiribati: 16.2 % of GDPKiribati16.2Tuvalu: 14.5 % of GDPTuvalu14.5Marshall Islands: 13.8 % of GDPMarshall Islands13.8Micronesia: 11.6 % of GDPMicronesia11.6Cuba: 11.5 % of GDPCuba11.5Solomon Islands: 9.6 % of GDPSolomon Islands9.6Namibia: 9.3 % of GDPNamibia9.3Iceland: 8.6 % of GDPIceland8.6Bolivia: 8.4 % of GDPBolivia8.4Norway: 8.4 % of GDPNorway8.4Botswana: 8.1 % of GDPBotswana8.1Sweden: 8 % of GDPSweden8Denmark: 7.4 % of GDPDenmark7.4Tunisia: 7.3 % of GDPTunisia7.3Curaçao: 7.1 % of GDPCuraçao7.1Cape Verde: 7.1 % of GDPCape Verde7.1Oman: 6.9 % of GDPOman6.9Belgium: 6.8 % of GDPBelgium6.8Finland: 6.7 % of GDPFinland6.7Costa Rica: 6.6 % of GDPCosta Rica6.6Moldova: 6.6 % of GDPMoldova6.6Israel: 6.5 % of GDPIsrael6.5Macao: 6.4 % of GDPMacao6.4Morocco: 6.3 % of GDPMorocco6.3Kuwait: 6.2 % of GDPKuwait6.2Algeria: 6.2 % of GDPAlgeria6.2South Africa: 6.2 % of GDPSouth Africa6.2Mozambique: 6.2 % of GDPMozambique6.2Honduras: 6.1 % of GDPHonduras6.1Nauru: 5.9 % of GDPNauru5.9Maldives: 5.8 % of GDPMaldives5.8Fiji: 5.8 % of GDPFiji5.8Brazil: 5.8 % of GDPBrazil5.8Kyrgyzstan: 5.7 % of GDPKyrgyzstan5.7Senegal: 5.7 % of GDPSenegal5.7France: 5.7 % of GDPFrance5.7New Zealand: 5.6 % of GDPNew Zealand5.6Chile: 5.6 % of GDPChile5.6Austria: 5.6 % of GDPAustria5.6Cyprus: 5.6 % of GDPCyprus5.6
% of GDP. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Government expenditure on education, total, % of GDP (SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS) via World Bank, World Development Indicators. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCountries2020
% of GDP		Change on 2019
1Kiribati16.2+1.7 pts
2Tuvalu14.5n/a
3Marshall Islands13.8+4 pts
4Micronesia11.6+0.9 pts
5Cuba11.5+2.5 pts
6Solomon Islands9.6n/a
7Namibia9.3-0 pts
8Iceland8.6+1 pts
9Bolivia8.4+0.3 pts
10Norway8.4+0.5 pts
11Botswana8.1-0.3 pts
12Sweden8+0.3 pts
13Denmark7.4+0.1 pts
14Tunisia7.3+1.1 pts
15Curaçao7.1+1.3 pts
16Cape Verde7.1+2.9 pts
17Oman6.9+1.8 pts
18Belgium6.8+0.4 pts
19Finland6.7+0.2 pts
20Costa Rica6.6-0.1 pts
21Moldova6.6+0.4 pts
22Israel6.5+0.4 pts
23Macao6.4+3.3 pts
24Morocco6.3+1.3 pts
25Kuwait6.2-0.5 pts
26Algeria6.2+0.6 pts
27South Africa6.2+0.3 pts
28Mozambique6.2+0.2 pts
29Honduras6.1+0.1 pts
30Nauru5.9+0.2 pts
31Maldives5.8+1.7 pts
32Fiji5.8+0.7 pts
33Brazil5.8-0.2 pts
34Kyrgyzstan5.7+0.7 pts
35Senegal5.7+0.7 pts
36France5.7+0.3 pts
37New Zealand5.6+0.5 pts
38Chile5.60 pts
39Austria5.6+0.3 pts
40Cyprus5.6+0.4 pts
41Germany5.5+0.5 pts
42Bhutan5.5+1 pts
43Saint Vincent and the Grenadines5.5n/a
44Estonia5.4+0.3 pts
45United Kingdom5.4+0.2 pts
46Slovenia5.4+0.5 pts
47United States5.4+0.4 pts
48Australia5.4n/a
49Ukraine5.4-0.1 pts
50Jamaica5.4+0.2 pts
51Sierra Leone5.3+0.7 pts
52Eswatini5.3-0.4 pts
53Burundi5.3-0 pts
54Netherlands5.3+0.2 pts
55Argentina5.3+0.5 pts
56Switzerland5.3+0.3 pts
57Colombia5.3+0.8 pts
58Belize5.2-0.8 pts
59Burkina Faso5.2-0.2 pts
60Tajikistan5.1-0.3 pts
61Tonga5+0.2 pts
62Kenya5-0.3 pts
63São Tomé and Príncipe5-1.1 pts
64Latvia5+0.4 pts
65Canada4.9+0.1 pts
66Portugal4.9+0.2 pts
67Belarus4.9-0.1 pts
68Spain4.9+0.6 pts
69Poland4.8+0.2 pts
70Slovakia4.7+0.5 pts
71Czechia4.6+0.2 pts
72Suriname4.6-2.2 pts
73Nicaragua4.6-0 pts
74Uruguay4.6-0.1 pts
75South Korea4.5+0.1 pts
76Dominican Republic4.5+0.5 pts
77Samoa4.5-0.1 pts
78Mexico4.5n/a
79Bulgaria4.5+0.3 pts
80Lithuania4.5+0.5 pts
81Dominica4.5-0.4 pts
82Kazakhstan4.4+1.6 pts
83Uzbekistan4.4-1.9 pts
84Italy4.4+0.3 pts
85Croatia4.4+0.5 pts
86Hong Kong4.4+0.6 pts
87Mauritius4.4-0.2 pts
88Azerbaijan4.3+1.2 pts
89Panama4.3+1 pts
90India4.3+0.4 pts
91Puerto Rico4.3+1 pts
92Ecuador4.30 pts
93Peru4.3+0.4 pts
94Nepal4.2+0.4 pts
95Republic of the Congo4.2+1 pts
96Trinidad and Tobago4.2+0.7 pts
97Seychelles4.2+0.6 pts
98Hungary4.1-0.1 pts
99Ethiopia4.1-0.4 pts
100Togo4.1-0.1 pts
101Türkiye4-0.4 pts
102Russia4+0.3 pts
103United Arab Emirates4+0.1 pts
104Zambia3.9-0.5 pts
105Paraguay3.9+0.4 pts
106Malaysia3.9-0.2 pts
107Barbados3.9+0.1 pts
108Philippines3.9+0.5 pts
109Luxembourg3.9+0.1 pts
110Niger3.8+0.3 pts
111Georgia3.8-0 pts
112Côte d’Ivoire3.8+0.4 pts
113Turkmenistan3.8+0.6 pts
114Bahamas3.7+1.1 pts
115El Salvador3.7+0.3 pts
116Timor-Leste3.7-0.5 pts
117Saint Lucia3.6+0.3 pts
118Romania3.60 pts
119Jordan3.6+0.6 pts
120Palau3.5n/a
121San Marino3.40 pts
122Ghana3.4+0.3 pts
123Gabon3.4+0.5 pts
124Mali3.3+0.3 pts
125Rwanda3.3+0.1 pts
126Albania3.3-0.5 pts
127Japan3.3+0.2 pts
128Guatemala3.3+0.1 pts
129Madagascar3.3+0.2 pts
130Qatar3.2+0.4 pts
131Tanzania3.2-0.4 pts
132Vietnam3.2+0.1 pts
133Iran3.2-0 pts
134Ireland3.2-0 pts
135Thailand3.2+0.1 pts
136Saint Kitts and Nevis3.1+0.4 pts
137Cameroon3.1+0.1 pts
138Bosnia and Herzegovina3-1 pts
139Antigua and Barbuda3-0.4 pts
140Benin2.9+0.2 pts
141Gambia2.9+0.1 pts
142Chad2.7+0.4 pts
143Armenia2.7+0.5 pts
144British Virgin Islands2.7+0.2 pts
145Singapore2.7-0 pts
146Angola2.7+0.6 pts
147Andorra2.6-0.5 pts
148Democratic Republic of the Congo2.6n/a
149Uganda2.6+0.3 pts
150Turks and Caicos Islands2.5+0.3 pts
151Guinea2.4+0.6 pts
152Lebanon2.4-0.1 pts
153Comoros2.4n/a
154Cambodia2.2+0.1 pts
155Vanuatu2.2+0.4 pts
156Central African Republic2.1+0.4 pts
157Bangladesh2.1+1 pts
158Liberia2.1-0 pts
159Bahrain2.1-0.1 pts
160Pakistan2.1-0.2 pts
161Laos1.9-0.2 pts
162Mauritania1.8-0 pts
163Bermuda1.7-0.2 pts
164Sri Lanka1.6n/a
165Cayman Islands1.5+0.3 pts
166Haiti1.10 pts
167Indonesia1+0.1 pts
168Papua New Guinea0.9+0.1 pts
169Nigeria0.40 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

General government expenditure on education at all levels (current, capital and transfers), as a percentage of GDP. Includes spending funded by international transfers to government. UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Government spending only: fees and other money paid by households and private bodies are left out, so countries where families pay a large share show lower values. For some countries UIS takes the figure from government budget documents, so a recent year can be revised when final accounts come in. Countries only; UIS publishes no World figure.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the countries are compared on one definition. 34 countries with data in other periods have no value for 2020 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). Government expenditure on education, total, % of GDP (SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.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

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APA 7

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2026). Government expenditure on education, total, % of GDP (SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS) (Countries by government spending on education, share of GDP, 2020) [Data set]. World Bank, World Development Indicators. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS

MLA 9

Government expenditure on education, total, % of GDP (SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS), Countries by government spending on education, share of GDP, 2020. UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 8 Oct. 2026, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS. World Bank, World Development Indicators, https://data.worldbank.org. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/education-spending-gdp/countries?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. 2026. Government expenditure on education, total, % of GDP (SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS). Countries by government spending on education, share of GDP, 2020. Dataset. Distributed by World Bank, World Development Indicators. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/education-spending-gdp/countries?period=2020.

Harvard

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) Government expenditure on education, total, % of GDP (SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS), Countries by government spending on education, share of GDP, 2020 [Dataset]. Via World Bank, World Development Indicators. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/education-spending-gdp/countries?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{unesco_countries_by_government_spending_2020,
  author = {{UNESCO Institute for Statistics}},
  title = {{Government expenditure on education, total, \% of GDP (SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS): Countries by government spending on education, share of GDP, 2020}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  publisher = {World Bank, World Development Indicators},
  url = {https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Retrieved through World Bank, World Development Indicators (https://data.worldbank.org). Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/education-spending-gdp/countries?period=2020. Publisher attribution: Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). Government expenditure on education, total, \% of GDP (SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.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 GDP (SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS): Countries by government spending on education, share of GDP, 2020
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/08
PB  - World Bank, World Development Indicators
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/education-spending-gdp/countries?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Retrieved through World Bank, World Development Indicators (https://data.worldbank.org).
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/education-spending-gdp/countries?period=2020.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). Government expenditure on education, total, % of GDP (SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.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

Which country has the highest government spending on education, share of GDP?

Kiribati, with 16.2% of GDP in 2020, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Which country has the lowest government spending on education, share of GDP?

Nigeria, with 0.4% of GDP in 2020.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Government expenditure on education, total, % of GDP (SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 34 countries have no value for 2020 and are not ranked.

Government spending on education, share of GDP: other rankings

Countries: more rankings