Countries by spending per student, primary to tertiary

Luxembourg had the highest spending per student, primary to tertiary of 33 countries in 2017, at 23,218 USD at PPP. Mexico had the lowest, at 3,305 USD at PPP. The median was 10,422 USD at PPP. Source: the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Highest23,218Luxembourg
Lowest3,305Mexico
Median10,42233 countries

All countries, 2017

Luxembourg: 23,218 USD at PPPLuxembourg23,218United States: 17,993 USD at PPPUnited States17,993Austria: 16,221 USD at PPPAustria16,221Sweden: 14,749 USD at PPPSweden14,749Canada: 14,338 USD at PPPCanada14,338Denmark: 14,289 USD at PPPDenmark14,289Belgium: 14,211 USD at PPPBelgium14,211United Kingdom: 14,158 USD at PPPUnited Kingdom14,158Netherlands: 13,745 USD at PPPNetherlands13,745Iceland: 13,737 USD at PPPIceland13,737Germany: 13,452 USD at PPPGermany13,452France: 12,022 USD at PPPFrance12,022South Korea: 11,969 USD at PPPSouth Korea11,969Japan: 11,927 USD at PPPJapan11,927Finland: 11,635 USD at PPPFinland11,635Ireland: 10,446 USD at PPPIreland10,446Italy: 10,422 USD at PPPItaly10,422Portugal: 10,207 USD at PPPPortugal10,207Spain: 10,093 USD at PPPSpain10,093Slovenia: 9,853 USD at PPPSlovenia9,853New Zealand: 9,483 USD at PPPNew Zealand9,483Israel: 9,463 USD at PPPIsrael9,463Estonia: 8,907 USD at PPPEstonia8,907Czechia: 8,699 USD at PPPCzechia8,699Poland: 8,118 USD at PPPPoland8,118Hungary: 7,701 USD at PPPHungary7,701Slovakia: 7,362 USD at PPPSlovakia7,362Chile: 6,911 USD at PPPChile6,911Latvia: 6,634 USD at PPPLatvia6,634Lithuania: 6,188 USD at PPPLithuania6,188Türkiye: 5,416 USD at PPPTürkiye5,416Greece: 5,294 USD at PPPGreece5,294Mexico: 3,305 USD at PPPMexico3,305
USD at PPP. Source: OECD, OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN@DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCountries2017
USD at PPP
Change on 2016
1Luxembourg23,218+4.6%
2United States17,993+4.3%
3Austria16,221+1%
4Sweden14,749+2.4%
5Canada14,338+0.6%
6Denmark14,289+2.8%
7Belgium14,211+4.1%
8United Kingdom14,158+4.5%
9Netherlands13,745+4.4%
10Iceland13,737+10.7%
11Germany13,452+4.6%
12France12,022+3.8%
13South Korea11,969+5.3%
14Japan11,927+1.4%
15Finland11,635-1.2%
16Ireland10,446n/a
17Italy10,422+10%
18Portugal10,207+7.3%
19Spain10,093+4.6%
20Slovenia9,853+6.3%
21New Zealand9,483+4.4%
22Israel9,463+4.6%
23Estonia8,907+7%
24Czechia8,699+12.2%
25Poland8,118+8.2%
26Hungary7,701-1.1%
27Slovakia7,362+1.6%
28Chile6,911+9.5%
29Latvia6,634+2.3%
30Lithuania6,188+4.2%
31Türkiye5,416+0.1%
32Greece5,294n/a
33Mexico3,305-11.5%

Other periods

About this ranking

Total expenditure on educational institutions from public, private and international sources per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary education (ISCED 2011 levels 1 to 8), in US dollars at current prices converted with purchasing power parities for GDP.

Includes research and development spending at universities. Countries do not report every year, and the latest year usually lags by about three years.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the countries are compared on one definition. 4 countries with data in other periods have no value for 2017 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

OECD. OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN@DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN%40DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP. Accessed 2026-10-12. Data reuse terms and downstream attribution: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html

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

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2026). OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN@DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD) (Countries by spending per student, primary to tertiary, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN%40DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP

MLA 9

OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN@DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD), Countries by spending per student, primary to tertiary, 2017. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 12 Oct. 2026, https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN%40DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/spending-per-student/countries?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 2026. OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN@DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD). Countries by spending per student, primary to tertiary, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN%40DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/spending-per-student/countries?period=2017.

Harvard

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2026) OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN@DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD), Countries by spending per student, primary to tertiary, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN%40DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/spending-per-student/countries?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{organisation_countries_by_spending_per_2017,
  author = {{Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development}},
  title = {{OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD\_EAG\_UOE\_FIN@DF\_UOE\_INDIC\_FIN\_PERSTUD): Countries by spending per student, primary to tertiary, 2017}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN%40DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/spending-per-student/countries?period=2017. Publisher attribution: OECD. OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD\_EAG\_UOE\_FIN@DF\_UOE\_INDIC\_FIN\_PERSTUD). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ\&df[id]=DSD\_EAG\_UOE\_FIN\%40DF\_UOE\_INDIC\_FIN\_PERSTUD\&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP. Accessed 2026-10-12. Data reuse terms and downstream attribution: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
TI  - OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN@DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD): Countries by spending per student, primary to tertiary, 2017
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/12
PB  - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN%40DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/spending-per-student/countries?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/spending-per-student/countries?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: OECD. OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN@DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN%40DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP. Accessed 2026-10-12. Data reuse terms and downstream attribution: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html.
ER  - 
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Questions

Which country has the highest spending per student, primary to tertiary?

Luxembourg, with 23,218 USD at PPP in 2017, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Which country has the lowest spending per student, primary to tertiary?

Mexico, with 3,305 USD at PPP in 2017.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN@DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 4 countries have no value for 2017 and are not ranked.

Spending per student, primary to tertiary: other rankings

Countries: more rankings