Countries by government spending on education, share of government spending

Sierra Leone had the highest government spending on education, share of government spending of 163 countries in 2019, at 35%. Papua New Guinea had the lowest, at 3.6%. The median was 13.5%. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Highest35Sierra Leone
Median13.5163 countries

Top 40 countries, 2019

Sierra Leone: 35 %Sierra Leone35Costa Rica: 32.6 %Costa Rica32.6Namibia: 29.1 %Namibia29.1Uzbekistan: 28.4 %Uzbekistan28.4Nicaragua: 23.9 %Nicaragua23.9Guatemala: 23.8 %Guatemala23.8Turkmenistan: 23 %Turkmenistan23Bolivia: 22.4 %Bolivia22.4Botswana: 22.3 %Botswana22.3Dominican Republic: 22.3 %Dominican Republic22.3Belize: 22.2 %Belize22.2Burkina Faso: 21.7 %Burkina Faso21.7Morocco: 21.5 %Morocco21.5Iran: 21.2 %Iran21.2Chile: 21.2 %Chile21.2Burundi: 21.2 %Burundi21.2Ethiopia: 20.9 %Ethiopia20.9Hong Kong: 20.3 %Hong Kong20.3Côte d’Ivoire: 19.8 %Côte d’Ivoire19.8South Africa: 19.6 %South Africa19.6Singapore: 19.5 %Singapore19.5Moldova: 19.5 %Moldova19.5Aruba: 19.4 %Aruba19.4Togo: 19.2 %Togo19.2Kenya: 19.1 %Kenya19.1Mozambique: 19 %Mozambique19Benin: 18.9 %Benin18.9Mauritius: 18.7 %Mauritius18.7Eswatini: 18.5 %Eswatini18.5Tajikistan: 18.2 %Tajikistan18.2Philippines: 18.2 %Philippines18.2Micronesia: 18.1 %Micronesia18.1Bhutan: 18.1 %Bhutan18.1Madagascar: 18 %Madagascar18Kiribati: 17.9 %Kiribati17.9Peru: 17.7 %Peru17.7Tunisia: 17.6 %Tunisia17.6Malaysia: 17.6 %Malaysia17.6São Tomé and Príncipe: 17.6 %São Tomé and Príncipe17.6Iceland: 17.4 %Iceland17.4
%. 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

RankCountries2019 (%)Change on 2018
1Sierra Leone35+2.3 pts
2Costa Rica32.6+6.5 pts
3Namibia29.1+5.7 pts
4Uzbekistan28.4+2.5 pts
5Nicaragua23.9+1.2 pts
6Guatemala23.80 pts
7Turkmenistan23n/a
8Bolivia22.4+1.1 pts
9Botswana22.3-0.2 pts
10Dominican Republic22.3+0.2 pts
11Belize22.2+0.1 pts
12Burkina Faso21.7-1 pts
13Morocco21.5-1 pts
14Iran21.2+0.1 pts
15Chile21.2-0.1 pts
16Burundi21.2+1.7 pts
17Ethiopia20.9-2.1 pts
18Hong Kong20.3+1.5 pts
19Côte d’Ivoire19.8+1.6 pts
20South Africa19.6+0.7 pts
21Singapore19.5-1.2 pts
22Moldova19.5+1.9 pts
23Aruba19.4-0.7 pts
24Togo19.2-2.5 pts
25Kenya19.1+0.1 pts
26Mozambique19+2.6 pts
27Benin18.9+1.2 pts
28Mauritius18.7-0.6 pts
29Eswatini18.5+1.3 pts
30Tajikistan18.2+2.3 pts
31Philippines18.2-0.5 pts
32Micronesia18.1+1 pts
33Bhutan18.1-3.8 pts
34Madagascar18-1.9 pts
35Kiribati17.9-2.7 pts
36Peru17.7+0.6 pts
37Tunisia17.6n/a
38Malaysia17.6-2 pts
39São Tomé and Príncipe17.6-2.5 pts
40Iceland17.4+0.2 pts
41Jamaica17.3-1.3 pts
42British Virgin Islands17.2+7 pts
43Curaçao170 pts
44Thailand17-0.2 pts
45Republic of the Congo17+1.4 pts
46Gambia16.9+4.4 pts
47Fiji16.8+1.9 pts
48Macao16.6+1.4 pts
49Kyrgyzstan16.5-0.3 pts
50Algeria16+0.4 pts
51Israel15.7+0.2 pts
52Sweden15.7+0.2 pts
53Switzerland15.7+0.2 pts
54Norway15.7-0.3 pts
55Panama15.6-0.2 pts
56Vietnam15.6-0.5 pts
57Mali15.4-2.2 pts
58Zambia15.3-1.8 pts
59Suriname15.3+0.6 pts
60Cape Verde15.2-2.4 pts
61Uruguay15.1-0 pts
62San Marino15.1+0.6 pts
63Marshall Islands15-6.7 pts
64North Korea15+0.1 pts
65Cayman Islands150 pts
66India14.8-1.8 pts
67Senegal14.7-8 pts
68Denmark14.6+0.2 pts
69Tanzania14.3-6.2 pts
70Ghana14.3-4.3 pts
71Cuba14.2+1.6 pts
72Chad14.2n/a
73Cameroon14.2-2.7 pts
74Kazakhstan14.1+0.2 pts
75Gabon14.1-0.5 pts
76Saint Lucia14.1-0.2 pts
77Barbados13.9-2.5 pts
78Brazil13.9+0.1 pts
79Puerto Rico13.8+3.5 pts
80Malta13.8n/a
81United Arab Emirates13.6n/a
82United Kingdom13.5+0.2 pts
83Ireland13.5+0.2 pts
84New Zealand13.5-1.1 pts
85Samoa13.4-1.5 pts
86Albania13.4+2.6 pts
87Georgia13.4+0.4 pts
88Belarus13.3+0.6 pts
89United States13.3+0.1 pts
90Estonia13.2-0 pts
91Ukraine13.1+0.4 pts
92Oman13.1+1.1 pts
93Niger13-3.3 pts
94Tonga13+1.7 pts
95Bahamas12.9+0.1 pts
96Haiti12.9-1.6 pts
97Kuwait12.9+0.7 pts
98Cyprus12.8n/a
99Türkiye12.5-0 pts
100Argentina12.5-0 pts
101Guinea12.5-2.5 pts
102Finland12.3+0.3 pts
103Belgium12.20 pts
104El Salvador12.2-0.9 pts
105Cambodia12.1+2.2 pts
106Nepal12.1-2 pts
107Maldives12.1+0.7 pts
108Netherlands12-0.4 pts
109Latvia11.8+0.6 pts
110Canada11.7-0.3 pts
111Bulgaria11.7-0.1 pts
112Pakistan11.6-0.6 pts
113Lithuania11.4-0 pts
114Slovenia11.3-0 pts
115Poland11.2+0.1 pts
116Seychelles11.1+0.6 pts
117Czechia11.1+0.6 pts
118Germany11+0.1 pts
119Rwanda11+0.2 pts
120Andorra10.9-2.6 pts
121Portugal10.9+0.1 pts
122Laos10.8-0.3 pts
123Romania10.7+0.2 pts
124Ecuador10.7n/a
125Austria10.7-0 pts
126Slovakia10.5+0.6 pts
127Zimbabwe10.5-8.7 pts
128Trinidad and Tobago10.5-0.2 pts
129Mongolia10.3-2.8 pts
130Mauritania10.2n/a
131Bosnia and Herzegovina10.1+0.5 pts
132Spain100 pts
133Central African Republic9.8+0.7 pts
134Azerbaijan9.8+2.4 pts
135Myanmar9.7-0.4 pts
136France9.7+0.1 pts
137Turks and Caicos Islands9.6-2.3 pts
138Antigua and Barbuda9.5+2 pts
139Indonesia9.3-0.8 pts
140Jordan9.2-0 pts
141Hungary9.2-0.9 pts
142Croatia8.9+0.2 pts
143Uganda8.9-2.4 pts
144Bangladesh8.7-5.5 pts
145Luxembourg8.70 pts
146Saint Kitts and Nevis8.6-1.5 pts
147Qatar8.6n/a
148Serbia8.6-0.2 pts
149Armenia8.6-0.1 pts
150Bahrain8.6-0.7 pts
151Italy8.4-0.4 pts
152Dominica8.3-0.1 pts
153Lebanon8.1+0.1 pts
154Greece7.5+0.1 pts
155Gibraltar7.4-0.4 pts
156Timor-Leste6.9-1.1 pts
157Angola6+0.3 pts
158Nigeria5.9-0.1 pts
159Monaco5n/a
160Nauru4.8-0.6 pts
161Vanuatu4.5-15.7 pts
162Somalia4.3+1.3 pts
163Papua New Guinea3.6-5.6 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. 37 countries with data in other periods have no value for 2019 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?

Sierra Leone, with 35% in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

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

Papua New Guinea, with 3.6% in 2019.

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. 37 countries have no value for 2019 and are not ranked.

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

Countries: more rankings