Countries by government spending on education, share of government spending
Zimbabwe had the highest government spending on education, share of government spending of 154 countries in 2014, at 30%. South Sudan had the lowest, at 4.1%. The median was 14.4%. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Top 40 countries, 2014
Full ranking
| Rank | Countries | 2014 (%) | Change on 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zimbabwe | 30 | +1.4 pts |
| 2 | Marshall Islands | 27.4 | +1.3 pts |
| 3 | Honduras | 26.9 | +5.9 pts |
| 4 | Ethiopia | 25.9 | -1.1 pts |
| 5 | Senegal | 24.8 | -0.9 pts |
| 6 | Eswatini | 24.8 | +7.6 pts |
| 7 | Namibia | 24 | -0.1 pts |
| 8 | Burundi | 23.8 | +6.6 pts |
| 9 | Costa Rica | 23.1 | +0.3 pts |
| 10 | Nicaragua | 23 | |
| 11 | Uzbekistan | 23 | +0.2 pts |
| 12 | Botswana | 22.7 | +1.7 pts |
| 13 | Benin | 22.2 | -0.1 pts |
| 14 | Vanuatu | 22.2 | |
| 15 | Micronesia | 22.1 | +1.7 pts |
| 16 | Morocco | 22.1 | |
| 17 | Guatemala | 22 | +1.3 pts |
| 18 | Jamaica | 21.8 | +1.2 pts |
| 19 | Côte d’Ivoire | 21.8 | +0.2 pts |
| 20 | Niger | 21.7 | +3.6 pts |
| 21 | Belize | 21.6 | -1.6 pts |
| 22 | Dominican Republic | 21.5 | -0.2 pts |
| 23 | Kiribati | 21.3 | -2.8 pts |
| 24 | Ghana | 21 | -0.2 pts |
| 25 | Mauritius | 20.9 | +6.1 pts |
| 26 | Thailand | 20.5 | +1.4 pts |
| 27 | Singapore | 20.5 | -8.4 pts |
| 28 | Zambia | 20.2 | +2.7 pts |
| 29 | Chile | 19.9 | +0.2 pts |
| 30 | Malaysia | 19.8 | +0.3 pts |
| 31 | Iran | 19.7 | -2 pts |
| 32 | Aruba | 19.6 | -2.3 pts |
| 33 | Burkina Faso | 19.4 | +3.2 pts |
| 34 | South Africa | 19 | +0.3 pts |
| 35 | Madagascar | 19 | +5 pts |
| 36 | Comoros | 18.9 | +2.8 pts |
| 37 | Guyana | 18.9 | |
| 38 | Mexico | 18.8 | +1.9 pts |
| 39 | Moldova | 18.8 | +0.5 pts |
| 40 | Nepal | 18.3 | +0.7 pts |
| 41 | Mali | 18.2 | +1.6 pts |
| 42 | Bolivia | 18.1 | -1.1 pts |
| 43 | Curaçao | 18.1 | -0.3 pts |
| 44 | Indonesia | 17.9 | +0.1 pts |
| 45 | Kenya | 17.8 | -0.9 pts |
| 46 | Tajikistan | 17.8 | +0.4 pts |
| 47 | Hong Kong | 17.6 | -2.7 pts |
| 48 | Bhutan | 17.5 | +1.8 pts |
| 49 | Barbados | 17.5 | +2.6 pts |
| 50 | Mozambique | 17.4 | -1.6 pts |
| 51 | Malta | 17.3 | -1.2 pts |
| 52 | Tanzania | 17.3 | -1.8 pts |
| 53 | Norway | 16.9 | -0.2 pts |
| 54 | Vietnam | 16.8 | -1.7 pts |
| 55 | Iceland | 16.7 | +0.5 pts |
| 56 | Malawi | 16.6 | -3.9 pts |
| 57 | Algeria | 16.5 | -1.2 pts |
| 58 | Cape Verde | 16.3 | +1.5 pts |
| 59 | Peru | 16.2 | +1 pts |
| 60 | Fiji | 16.2 | +1.9 pts |
| 61 | Kazakhstan | 16.1 | -1.2 pts |
| 62 | Cuba | 15.8 | -0.7 pts |
| 63 | India | 15.7 | +1.7 pts |
| 64 | Togo | 15.6 | +0.1 pts |
| 65 | New Zealand | 15.5 | -0 pts |
| 66 | Philippines | 15.5 | |
| 67 | Switzerland | 15.3 | +0.2 pts |
| 68 | Saint Lucia | 15.3 | +1.5 pts |
| 69 | Sierra Leone | 15.1 | -0.1 pts |
| 70 | Sweden | 15 | +0.2 pts |
| 71 | Samoa | 15 | +0.4 pts |
| 72 | Israel | 14.9 | +0.3 pts |
| 73 | British Virgin Islands | 14.7 | -1 pts |
| 74 | Mongolia | 14.7 | -0.7 pts |
| 75 | Afghanistan | 14.5 | +0.4 pts |
| 76 | Uruguay | 14.4 | +0.1 pts |
| 77 | Kyrgyzstan | 14.4 | -3.4 pts |
| 78 | Brazil | 14.4 | -0.3 pts |
| 79 | North Korea | 14.3 | -0.3 pts |
| 80 | Latvia | 14 | -4.8 pts |
| 81 | Denmark | 13.9 | -1.4 pts |
| 82 | El Salvador | 13.9 | +0.5 pts |
| 83 | Argentina | 13.8 | -0.7 pts |
| 84 | Rwanda | 13.7 | -3.1 pts |
| 85 | Macao | 13.7 | +1.1 pts |
| 86 | Türkiye | 13.5 | +0.6 pts |
| 87 | United Kingdom | 13.4 | +0.7 pts |
| 88 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 13.4 | -2.8 pts |
| 89 | Panama | 13.3 | |
| 90 | Andorra | 13.3 | +7.1 pts |
| 91 | Bangladesh | 13.3 | -0.7 pts |
| 92 | Ukraine | 13.1 | -0.7 pts |
| 93 | Ireland | 13 | -0.2 pts |
| 94 | Cameroon | 12.9 | -0.9 pts |
| 95 | Lithuania | 12.9 | -0.1 pts |
| 96 | Qatar | 12.7 | -0.4 pts |
| 97 | Jordan | 12.6 | -0.5 pts |
| 98 | Belarus | 12.4 | +0.1 pts |
| 99 | Finland | 12.4 | -0.1 pts |
| 100 | Cyprus | 12.3 | -3 pts |
| 101 | São Tomé and Príncipe | 12.3 | -6.5 pts |
| 102 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 12.2 | -1.1 pts |
| 103 | Canada | 12.1 | +0.9 pts |
| 104 | Bahamas | 12.1 | -0.1 pts |
| 105 | Guinea | 12.1 | -2.1 pts |
| 106 | Haiti | 12 | |
| 107 | Mauritania | 11.9 | +0.5 pts |
| 108 | Seychelles | 11.8 | +2.3 pts |
| 109 | Belgium | 11.8 | 0 pts |
| 110 | Turks and Caicos Islands | 11.8 | -0.4 pts |
| 111 | Grenada | 11.8 | |
| 112 | Laos | 11.8 | -1.6 pts |
| 113 | Gambia | 11.8 | +1.2 pts |
| 114 | Uganda | 11.7 | -0 pts |
| 115 | Poland | 11.6 | 0 pts |
| 116 | Netherlands | 11.6 | 0 pts |
| 117 | Estonia | 11.5 | -1 pts |
| 118 | Russia | 11.5 | +0.6 pts |
| 119 | Ecuador | 11.3 | +0.8 pts |
| 120 | Bulgaria | 11.3 | -0.1 pts |
| 121 | Pakistan | 11.3 | -0.2 pts |
| 122 | Gabon | 11.2 | +2.5 pts |
| 123 | Albania | 10.9 | -1.2 pts |
| 124 | Germany | 10.8 | +0.1 pts |
| 125 | Sri Lanka | 10.8 | +1.4 pts |
| 126 | Maldives | 10.6 | -1.9 pts |
| 127 | Slovenia | 10.6 | +1.1 pts |
| 128 | Trinidad and Tobago | 10.5 | -1.2 pts |
| 129 | Austria | 10.5 | -0.2 pts |
| 130 | Antigua and Barbuda | 10.3 | -0.4 pts |
| 131 | Slovakia | 10 | +0.1 pts |
| 132 | Brunei | 10 | |
| 133 | Portugal | 9.9 | -0.6 pts |
| 134 | Georgia | 9.7 | +0.1 pts |
| 135 | Luxembourg | 9.5 | |
| 136 | Spain | 9.5 | +0.1 pts |
| 137 | Central African Republic | 9.4 | +1.3 pts |
| 138 | Armenia | 9.4 | -1.8 pts |
| 139 | Czechia | 9.3 | -0.2 pts |
| 140 | Romania | 9.3 | +0.3 pts |
| 141 | Hungary | 9.2 | +0.8 pts |
| 142 | Nigeria | 9 | +0.4 pts |
| 143 | Cambodia | 8.8 | -0.8 pts |
| 144 | Bahrain | 8.7 | +1.2 pts |
| 145 | Italy | 8 | -0.1 pts |
| 146 | Bermuda | 7.8 | |
| 147 | Azerbaijan | 7.2 | +0.8 pts |
| 148 | Timor-Leste | 6.8 | +0.9 pts |
| 149 | Liberia | 6.8 | +1.1 pts |
| 150 | Republic of the Congo | 6.6 | -8.2 pts |
| 151 | Gibraltar | 6.2 | +0.9 pts |
| 152 | Nauru | 5.6 | |
| 153 | Monaco | 5 | -2.1 pts |
| 154 | South Sudan | 4.1 | +0.9 pts |
Other periods
About this ranking
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.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the countries are compared on one definition. 46 countries with data in other periods have no value for 2014 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 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.
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Rank Countries by government spending on education, share of government spending using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions
Which country has the highest government spending on education, share of government spending?
Zimbabwe, with 30% in 2014, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Which country has the lowest government spending on education, share of government spending?
South Sudan, with 4.1% in 2014.
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 government expenditure (SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 46 countries have no value for 2014 and are not ranked.