Countries by government spending on education, share of government spending

Zimbabwe had the highest government spending on education, share of government spending of 159 countries in 2015, at 29.5%. Somalia had the lowest, at 1.4%. The median was 14.1%. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Highest29.5Zimbabwe
Lowest1.4Somalia
Median14.1159 countries

Top 40 countries, 2015

Zimbabwe: 29.5 %Zimbabwe29.5Burundi: 27.5 %Burundi27.5Marshall Islands: 26.7 %Marshall Islands26.7Bhutan: 25.3 %Bhutan25.3Honduras: 24.6 %Honduras24.6Guatemala: 24.1 %Guatemala24.1Ghana: 23.8 %Ghana23.8Senegal: 23.8 %Senegal23.8Costa Rica: 23.4 %Costa Rica23.4Aruba: 23.2 %Aruba23.2Botswana: 23.1 %Botswana23.1Tunisia: 22.7 %Tunisia22.7Namibia: 22.6 %Namibia22.6Uzbekistan: 22.4 %Uzbekistan22.4Ethiopia: 22.3 %Ethiopia22.3Dominican Republic: 22.3 %Dominican Republic22.3Micronesia: 22.3 %Micronesia22.3Nicaragua: 22.3 %Nicaragua22.3Morocco: 22.2 %Morocco22.2Malawi: 21.8 %Malawi21.8Belize: 21.6 %Belize21.6Côte d’Ivoire: 21.2 %Côte d’Ivoire21.2Thailand: 20.6 %Thailand20.6Indonesia: 20.4 %Indonesia20.4Kiribati: 20.1 %Kiribati20.1Jamaica: 20.1 %Jamaica20.1Mozambique: 19.9 %Mozambique19.9Malaysia: 19.8 %Malaysia19.8Chile: 19.6 %Chile19.6Mauritius: 19.5 %Mauritius19.5Mexico: 19 %Mexico19South Africa: 18.7 %South Africa18.7Hong Kong: 18.6 %Hong Kong18.6Iran: 18.6 %Iran18.6Niger: 18.5 %Niger18.5Bolivia: 18.3 %Bolivia18.3Moldova: 18.2 %Moldova18.2Mali: 18.2 %Mali18.2Burkina Faso: 18 %Burkina Faso18Guyana: 17.9 %Guyana17.9
%. 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.

Full ranking

RankCountries2015 (%)Change on 2014
1Zimbabwe29.5-0.5 pts
2Burundi27.5+3.7 pts
3Marshall Islands26.7-0.6 pts
4Bhutan25.3+7.9 pts
5Honduras24.6-2.2 pts
6Guatemala24.1+2.1 pts
7Ghana23.8+2.8 pts
8Senegal23.8-1 pts
9Costa Rica23.4+0.3 pts
10Aruba23.2+3.6 pts
11Botswana23.1+0.4 pts
12Tunisia22.7n/a
13Namibia22.6-1.4 pts
14Uzbekistan22.4-0.6 pts
15Ethiopia22.3-3.6 pts
16Dominican Republic22.3+0.8 pts
17Micronesia22.3+0.2 pts
18Nicaragua22.3-0.8 pts
19Morocco22.2+0.2 pts
20Malawi21.8+5.2 pts
21Belize21.60 pts
22Côte d’Ivoire21.2-0.6 pts
23Thailand20.6+0.1 pts
24Indonesia20.4+2.5 pts
25Kiribati20.1-1.2 pts
26Jamaica20.1-1.7 pts
27Mozambique19.9+2.4 pts
28Malaysia19.80 pts
29Chile19.6-0.3 pts
30Mauritius19.5-1.4 pts
31Mexico19+0.2 pts
32South Africa18.7-0.3 pts
33Hong Kong18.6+1 pts
34Iran18.6-1.1 pts
35Niger18.5-3.1 pts
36Bolivia18.3+0.2 pts
37Moldova18.2-0.5 pts
38Mali18.2-0.1 pts
39Burkina Faso18-1.3 pts
40Guyana17.9-1 pts
41Barbados17.8+0.4 pts
42Singapore17.7-2.8 pts
43Tanzania17.6+0.3 pts
44Peru17.6+1.4 pts
45Benin17.5-4.7 pts
46Fiji17.4+1.2 pts
47Kenya17.4-0.5 pts
48Saint Vincent and the Grenadines17.2n/a
49Curaçao17.2-0.9 pts
50Iceland17.2+0.5 pts
51Nepal17-1.3 pts
52Madagascar17-2 pts
53Cape Verde16.7+0.5 pts
54Zambia16.7-3.4 pts
55Saint Lucia16.5+1.2 pts
56Eswatini16.4-8.4 pts
57Tajikistan16.4-1.4 pts
58Togo16.2+0.6 pts
59Algeria16.1-0.4 pts
60Kyrgyzstan15.7+1.4 pts
61India15.7-0 pts
62Norway15.6-1.3 pts
63Seychelles15.6+3.8 pts
64New Zealand15.60 pts
65Israel15.5+0.6 pts
66Switzerland15.4+0.1 pts
67Cuba15.3-0.5 pts
68Panama15.2+1.9 pts
69Sweden15.2+0.1 pts
70Philippines15.1-0.4 pts
71Vietnam15-1.8 pts
72Democratic Republic of the Congo14.9+1.5 pts
73Uruguay14.7+0.3 pts
74Samoa14.7-0.3 pts
75Cyprus14.7+2.3 pts
76Haiti14.6+2.6 pts
77El Salvador14.4+0.6 pts
78Turks and Caicos Islands14.2+2.4 pts
79Latvia14.1+0.2 pts
80North Korea14.1-0.2 pts
81Argentina14+0.2 pts
82Lesotho13.9n/a
83Czechia13.7+4.4 pts
84Mongolia13.5-1.1 pts
85United States13.5n/a
86Brazil13.5-0.8 pts
87United Kingdom13.5+0.1 pts
88Macao13.4-0.2 pts
89Comoros13.4-5.5 pts
90British Virgin Islands13.3-1.4 pts
91Türkiye13.3-0.3 pts
92Cameroon13.2+0.4 pts
93Uganda13.2+1.5 pts
94Pakistan13.2+1.9 pts
95Jordan13.2+0.6 pts
96Malta13-4.3 pts
97Ireland12.9-0 pts
98Estonia12.9+1.3 pts
99Mauritania12.8+0.9 pts
100Vanuatu12.7-9.5 pts
101Finland12.7+0.3 pts
102Rwanda12.5-1.2 pts
103Afghanistan12.5-2 pts
104Ukraine12.4-0.7 pts
105Canada12.4+0.2 pts
106Trinidad and Tobago12.3+1.8 pts
107Puerto Rico12.3n/a
108Kazakhstan12.2-3.9 pts
109Bangladesh12-1.3 pts
110Belgium12+0.2 pts
111Lithuania12-0.9 pts
112Netherlands11.7+0.1 pts
113Gabon11.6+0.4 pts
114Guinea11.6-0.5 pts
115Ecuador11.6+0.2 pts
116Bahamas11.6-0.5 pts
117Poland11.5-0 pts
118Belarus11.5-0.9 pts
119Maldives11.4+0.8 pts
120Suriname11.4n/a
121São Tomé and Príncipe11.3-1 pts
122Albania11.2+0.3 pts
123Gambia11-0.7 pts
124Sri Lanka11+0.1 pts
125Russia10.9-0.6 pts
126Austria10.7+0.2 pts
127Germany10.7-0.1 pts
128Armenia10.7+1.3 pts
129Laos10.5-1.3 pts
130Andorra10.4-2.9 pts
131Bulgaria10.4-0.9 pts
132Slovakia10.3+0.3 pts
133Dominica10.2n/a
134Portugal10.2+0.2 pts
135Georgia10.1+0.5 pts
136Slovenia10-0.6 pts
137Grenada9.9-1.9 pts
138Spain9.7+0.2 pts
139Luxembourg9.3-0.2 pts
140Nigeria9.3+0.2 pts
141Romania9.1-0.2 pts
142Bermuda9+1.2 pts
143Hungary8.9-0.3 pts
144Angola8.9n/a
145Saint Kitts and Nevis8.8-3.4 pts
146Timor-Leste8.6+1.9 pts
147Djibouti8.6n/a
148Central African Republic8.4-1 pts
149Italy8.1+0.1 pts
150Republic of the Congo8+1.4 pts
151Antigua and Barbuda7.6-2.7 pts
152Azerbaijan7.6+0.4 pts
153Bahrain7.3-1.4 pts
154Papua New Guinea7.2n/a
155Greece7.1n/a
156Gibraltar7+0.8 pts
157Nauru6.2+0.7 pts
158South Sudan3.3-0.8 pts
159Somalia1.4n/a

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. 41 countries with data in other periods have no value for 2015 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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Questions

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

Zimbabwe, with 29.5% in 2015, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

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

Somalia, with 1.4% in 2015.

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. 41 countries have no value for 2015 and are not ranked.

Government spending on education, share of government spending: other rankings

Countries: more rankings