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

Countries by government spending on education, share of GDP

Tuvalu had the highest government spending on education, share of GDP of 167 countries in 2021, at 15.5% of GDP. Nigeria had the lowest, at 0.4% of GDP. The median was 4.3% of GDP. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Highest15.5Tuvalu
Lowest0.4Nigeria
Median4.3167 countries

Top 40 countries, 2021

Tuvalu: 15.5 % of GDPTuvalu15.5Marshall Islands: 15.2 % of GDPMarshall Islands15.2Kiribati: 14 % of GDPKiribati14Namibia: 10.4 % of GDPNamibia10.4Vanuatu: 10.1 % of GDPVanuatu10.1Cuba: 9.4 % of GDPCuba9.4Solomon Islands: 8.3 % of GDPSolomon Islands8.3Iceland: 8.2 % of GDPIceland8.2Bolivia: 8 % of GDPBolivia8Kuwait: 7.8 % of GDPKuwait7.8Sweden: 7.6 % of GDPSweden7.6Norway: 7 % of GDPNorway7Denmark: 7 % of GDPDenmark7Tunisia: 6.7 % of GDPTunisia6.7Bhutan: 6.6 % of GDPBhutan6.6Finland: 6.6 % of GDPFinland6.6South Africa: 6.6 % of GDPSouth Africa6.6Belgium: 6.4 % of GDPBelgium6.4Mozambique: 6.3 % of GDPMozambique6.3Costa Rica: 6.2 % of GDPCosta Rica6.2Curaçao: 6.2 % of GDPCuraçao6.2Israel: 6.2 % of GDPIsrael6.2Cape Verde: 6.2 % of GDPCape Verde6.2Belize: 6 % of GDPBelize6United Kingdom: 5.9 % of GDPUnited Kingdom5.9Honduras: 5.9 % of GDPHonduras5.9Saint Lucia: 5.9 % of GDPSaint Lucia5.9Moldova: 5.8 % of GDPMoldova5.8Dominica: 5.7 % of GDPDominica5.7Morocco: 5.6 % of GDPMorocco5.6Jamaica: 5.6 % of GDPJamaica5.6Senegal: 5.6 % of GDPSenegal5.6Sierra Leone: 5.6 % of GDPSierra Leone5.6Rwanda: 5.6 % of GDPRwanda5.6New Zealand: 5.5 % of GDPNew Zealand5.5São Tomé and Príncipe: 5.5 % of GDPSão Tomé and Príncipe5.5Algeria: 5.5 % of GDPAlgeria5.5Brazil: 5.5 % of GDPBrazil5.5Austria: 5.5 % of GDPAustria5.5Palestine: 5.4 % of GDPPalestine5.4
% 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

RankCountries2021
% of GDP		Change on 2020
1Tuvalu15.5+1 pts
2Marshall Islands15.2+1.3 pts
3Kiribati14-2.2 pts
4Namibia10.4+1.1 pts
5Vanuatu10.1+7.9 pts
6Cuba9.4-2.1 pts
7Solomon Islands8.3-1.3 pts
8Iceland8.2-0.4 pts
9Bolivia8-0.5 pts
10Kuwait7.8+1.5 pts
11Sweden7.6-0.4 pts
12Norway7-1.4 pts
13Denmark7-0.4 pts
14Tunisia6.7-0.6 pts
15Bhutan6.6+1.1 pts
16Finland6.6-0.1 pts
17South Africa6.6+0.4 pts
18Belgium6.4-0.4 pts
19Mozambique6.3+0.2 pts
20Costa Rica6.2-0.4 pts
21Curaçao6.2-0.9 pts
22Israel6.2-0.4 pts
23Cape Verde6.2-0.9 pts
24Belize6+0.7 pts
25United Kingdom5.9+0.5 pts
26Honduras5.9-0.2 pts
27Saint Lucia5.9+2.2 pts
28Moldova5.8-0.8 pts
29Dominica5.7+1.3 pts
30Morocco5.6-0.6 pts
31Jamaica5.6+0.3 pts
32Senegal5.6-0.1 pts
33Sierra Leone5.6+0.2 pts
34Rwanda5.6+2.3 pts
35New Zealand5.5-0.1 pts
36São Tomé and Príncipe5.5+0.5 pts
37Algeria5.5-0.7 pts
38Brazil5.5-0.3 pts
39Austria5.5-0.1 pts
40Palestine5.4n/a
41United States5.40 pts
42France5.4-0.2 pts
43Slovenia5.4-0 pts
44Netherlands5.4+0.1 pts
45Germany5.4-0.1 pts
46Australia5.3-0 pts
47Eswatini5.3-0 pts
48Burkina Faso5.20 pts
49Samoa5.2+0.7 pts
50Estonia5.2-0.2 pts
51Kyrgyzstan5.2-0.6 pts
52Tonga5.2+0.1 pts
53Nauru5.2-0.7 pts
54Ukraine5.1-0.2 pts
55Macao5.1-1.3 pts
56Cyprus5.1-0.5 pts
57Switzerland5-0.3 pts
58Chile5-0.6 pts
59Malta4.9n/a
60Kenya4.9-0.2 pts
61Burundi4.9-0.5 pts
62Seychelles4.9+0.7 pts
63Fiji4.9-1 pts
64Spain4.8-0 pts
65Portugal4.8-0.1 pts
66Latvia4.8-0.2 pts
67Canada4.7-0.1 pts
68Slovakia4.7-0 pts
69Bulgaria4.7+0.2 pts
70Mauritius4.7+0.3 pts
71Hungary4.7+0.5 pts
72Argentina4.7-0.6 pts
73Czechia4.70 pts
74India4.6+0.3 pts
75Poland4.6-0.2 pts
76Maldives4.6-1.2 pts
77Belarus4.6-0.3 pts
78South Korea4.60 pts
79Barbados4.5+0.6 pts
80Uruguay4.5-0.1 pts
81Nepal4.4+0.2 pts
82Kazakhstan4.4-0.1 pts
83Tajikistan4.4-0.8 pts
84Malaysia4.3+0.3 pts
85Lithuania4.2-0.2 pts
86Mexico4.2-0.3 pts
87Togo4.2+0.1 pts
88Italy4.2-0.2 pts
89Bosnia and Herzegovina4.1+1.1 pts
90Uzbekistan4.1-0.3 pts
91Suriname4.1-0.5 pts
92Croatia4.1-0.3 pts
93Grenada4.1n/a
94Nicaragua4.1-0.5 pts
95Ethiopia4.1-0 pts
96Hong Kong4-0.4 pts
97Russia4-0 pts
98Palau3.9+0.5 pts
99Peru3.9-0.3 pts
100United Arab Emirates3.9-0.1 pts
101Philippines3.90 pts
102Turkmenistan3.8+0.1 pts
103Niger3.80 pts
104Puerto Rico3.7-0.6 pts
105Panama3.7-0.6 pts
106Azerbaijan3.7-0.6 pts
107Luxembourg3.7-0.2 pts
108Mali3.7+0.3 pts
109Ecuador3.7-0.6 pts
110Aruba3.6n/a
111Georgia3.6-0.2 pts
112Dominican Republic3.6-0.9 pts
113El Salvador3.6-0.1 pts
114Türkiye3.5-0.5 pts
115Paraguay3.4-0.5 pts
116Ghana3.4-0 pts
117Japan3.30 pts
118Côte d’Ivoire3.3-0.5 pts
119Romania3.3-0.3 pts
120Republic of the Congo3.3-0.9 pts
121Turks and Caicos Islands3.3+0.8 pts
122Madagascar3.2-0.1 pts
123Serbia3.1n/a
124Jordan3.1-0.4 pts
125Tanzania3.1-0.1 pts
126Zambia3.1-0.8 pts
127San Marino3.1-0.3 pts
128Benin3.1+0.2 pts
129Guatemala3.1-0.2 pts
130Bahamas3-0.7 pts
131Gambia3+0.2 pts
132Trinidad and Tobago3-1.2 pts
133British Virgin Islands3+0.3 pts
134Albania3-0.3 pts
135Thailand3-0.2 pts
136Timor-Leste3-0.7 pts
137Vietnam2.9-0.3 pts
138Ireland2.9-0.3 pts
139Cameroon2.8-0.3 pts
140Singapore2.8+0.1 pts
141Saint Kitts and Nevis2.8-0.3 pts
142Armenia2.8+0.1 pts
143Gabon2.7-0.7 pts
144Democratic Republic of the Congo2.70 pts
145Uganda2.6+0.1 pts
146Antigua and Barbuda2.5-0.5 pts
147Liberia2.4+0.3 pts
148Andorra2.4-0.3 pts
149Angola2.3-0.4 pts
150Comoros2.3-0.1 pts
151Bangladesh2.20 pts
152Guinea2-0.4 pts
153Chad2-0.7 pts
154Cambodia2-0.3 pts
155Bermuda1.9+0.2 pts
156Mauritania1.9+0.1 pts
157Central African Republic1.9-0.3 pts
158Laos1.9-0.1 pts
159Bahrain1.9-0.2 pts
160Pakistan1.7-0.4 pts
161Sri Lanka1.5-0.1 pts
162Monaco1.4n/a
163Cayman Islands1.3-0.1 pts
164Haiti1.2+0.1 pts
165Indonesia10 pts
166Papua New Guinea0.7-0.2 pts
167Nigeria0.40 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. 36 countries with data in other periods have no value for 2021 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

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 GDP (SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS) (Countries by government spending on education, share of GDP, 2021) [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, 2021. 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=2021. 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, 2021. 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=2021.

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, 2021 [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=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{unesco_countries_by_government_spending_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  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=2021. 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, 2021
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=2021
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=2021.
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?

Tuvalu, with 15.5% of GDP in 2021, 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 2021.

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. 36 countries have no value for 2021 and are not ranked.

Government spending on education, share of GDP: other rankings

Countries: more rankings