Government spending on education

% of GDP. Ranking of 171 countries with data from 2022 to 2025. Series code SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS.

Medians

World	4.2%
Upper middle income	4.1%
High income	4.5%
Lower middle income	4.0%
Low income	2.8%
Europe & Central Asia	4.6%
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan	4.5%
Sub-Saharan Africa	3.3%
Latin America & Caribbean	3.9%
East Asia & Pacific	4.2%
South Asia	3.9%
North America	3.4%

Ranking

Rank 1 is the highest value. It does not mean best or worst.

Filter by country, region or income group

Rank	Country	Value	Year	5-yr change	Z-score	Region	Income group
1	Kiribati	16.4%	2023	+3.5 pp	+1.9	East Asia & Pacific	Lower middle income
2	Tuvalu	12.8%	2023	−1.7 pp	–	East Asia & Pacific	Upper middle income
3	Namibia	9.1%	2024	−0.2 pp	+0.3	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
4	Algeria	9.0%	2024	+3.4 pp	+5.8	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan	Upper middle income
5	Cuba	8.4%	2022	0.0 pp	−1.0	Latin America & Caribbean	Upper middle income
6	Solomon Islands	8.3%	2023	−1.4 pp	–	East Asia & Pacific	Lower middle income
7	Marshall Islands	7.7%	2022	−2.2 pp	–	East Asia & Pacific	Upper middle income
8	Vanuatu	7.6%	2024	+5.9 pp	+0.4	East Asia & Pacific	Lower middle income
9	Mauritania	7.6%	2024	+5.8 pp	+5.0	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
10	Bolivia	7.5%	2024	−0.6 pp	−1.6	Latin America & Caribbean	Lower middle income
11	Sweden	7.3%	2022	−0.3 pp	−2.8	Europe & Central Asia	High income
12	Iceland	7.3%	2022	−0.3 pp	−1.1	Europe & Central Asia	High income
13	Kyrgyz Republic	6.8%	2023	+1.3 pp	+1.3	Europe & Central Asia	Lower middle income
14	Tunisia	6.7%	2023	+0.6 pp	+0.2	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan	Lower middle income
15	Lesotho	6.6%	2024	−0.7 pp	−2.7	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
16	Moldova	6.6%	2023	+1.0 pp	+1.7	Europe & Central Asia	Upper middle income
17	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	6.5%	2023	+1.2 pp	+1.2	Latin America & Caribbean	Upper middle income
18	Kuwait	6.4%	2024	−0.3 pp	+0.1	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan	High income
19	Finland	6.4%	2022	0.0 pp	−1.2	Europe & Central Asia	High income
20	Denmark	6.4%	2022	−1.0 pp	−2.6	Europe & Central Asia	High income
21	Belgium	6.3%	2022	−0.2 pp	−1.8	Europe & Central Asia	High income
22	Senegal	6.2%	2023	+1.1 pp	+1.9	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
23	Eswatini	6.0%	2024	+0.3 pp	+0.5	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
24	South Africa	6.0%	2024	+0.1 pp	+0.4	Sub-Saharan Africa	Upper middle income
25	Morocco	6.0%	2023	+1.1 pp	+1.3	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan	Lower middle income
26	Mozambique	6.0%	2022	+0.5 pp	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa	Low income
27	Israel	5.9%	2022	−0.1 pp	0.0	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan	High income
28	Bhutan	5.8%	2023	−0.6 pp	−0.3	South Asia	Lower middle income
29	Naoero	5.8%	2023	+0.7 pp	+0.4	East Asia & Pacific	High income
30	Brazil	5.6%	2022	−0.7 pp	−1.4	Latin America & Caribbean	Upper middle income
31	Jamaica	5.5%	2024	+0.4 pp	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean	Upper middle income
32	Uzbekistan	5.5%	2023	+0.6 pp	+0.4	Europe & Central Asia	Lower middle income
33	Samoa	5.5%	2024	+0.9 pp	+0.7	East Asia & Pacific	Upper middle income
34	Curacao	5.4%	2024	−0.4 pp	−1.3	Latin America & Caribbean	High income
35	Tajikistan	5.4%	2023	+0.1 pp	+0.4	Europe & Central Asia	Lower middle income
36	Norway	5.4%	2022	−2.4 pp	−5.7	Europe & Central Asia	High income
37	Korea, Rep.	5.4%	2022	+1.3 pp	+5.8	East Asia & Pacific	High income
38	Dominica	5.4%	2024	+0.5 pp	+0.7	Latin America & Caribbean	Upper middle income
39	Burkina Faso	5.3%	2023	−0.2 pp	+0.6	Sub-Saharan Africa	Low income
40	France	5.3%	2022	−0.1 pp	−1.3	Europe & Central Asia	High income
41	Costa Rica	5.3%	2023	−1.5 pp	−3.0	Latin America & Caribbean	High income
42	Tonga	5.3%	2022	+0.7 pp	+1.9	East Asia & Pacific	Upper middle income
43	Slovenia	5.3%	2022	+0.5 pp	+0.3	Europe & Central Asia	High income
44	Austria	5.3%	2022	−0.1 pp	−1.5	Europe & Central Asia	High income
45	Timor-Leste	5.2%	2023	−1.6 pp	−0.4	East Asia & Pacific	Lower middle income
46	Germany	5.2%	2022	+0.5 pp	+1.0	Europe & Central Asia	High income
47	New Zealand	5.2%	2023	0.0 pp	−1.0	East Asia & Pacific	High income
48	Mongolia	5.2%	2024	+1.1 pp	+1.4	East Asia & Pacific	Upper middle income
49	Estonia	5.2%	2022	+0.3 pp	+0.7	Europe & Central Asia	High income
50	Netherlands	5.2%	2022	+0.1 pp	−0.9	Europe & Central Asia	High income
51	Maldives	5.2%	2023	+1.3 pp	+1.4	South Asia	Upper middle income
52	Grenada	5.1%	2023	+1.6 pp	+2.5	Latin America & Caribbean	Upper middle income
53	Australia	5.1%	2022	–	–	East Asia & Pacific	High income
54	Belarus	5.0%	2024	+0.1 pp	+1.9	Europe & Central Asia	Upper middle income
55	Sao Tome and Principe	5.0%	2023	−0.6 pp	−0.7	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
56	Argentina	5.0%	2023	+0.1 pp	−0.5	Latin America & Caribbean	Upper middle income
57	Chile	4.9%	2022	−0.5 pp	−0.7	Latin America & Caribbean	High income
58	Kazakhstan	4.9%	2023	+2.2 pp	+2.0	Europe & Central Asia	Upper middle income
59	Switzerland	4.9%	2022	−0.2 pp	−1.2	Europe & Central Asia	High income
60	Canada	4.8%	2022	−0.1 pp	+0.4	North America	High income
61	Uruguay	4.8%	2023	+0.2 pp	+2.3	Latin America & Caribbean	High income
62	Cyprus	4.7%	2022	−1.0 pp	−2.0	Europe & Central Asia	High income
63	Malta	4.7%	2022	+0.4 pp	−0.8	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan	High income
64	Slovak Republic	4.7%	2022	+0.7 pp	+1.3	Europe & Central Asia	High income
65	Belize	4.6%	2024	−1.3 pp	−1.3	Latin America & Caribbean	Upper middle income
66	Rwanda	4.6%	2024	+1.4 pp	+0.8	Sub-Saharan Africa	Low income
67	Spain	4.6%	2022	+0.4 pp	+0.8	Europe & Central Asia	High income
68	Portugal	4.6%	2022	−0.5 pp	−1.7	Europe & Central Asia	High income
69	Honduras	4.6%	2023	−1.5 pp	−2.2	Latin America & Caribbean	Lower middle income
70	Burundi	4.5%	2025	−0.8 pp	−1.2	Sub-Saharan Africa	Low income
71	Bulgaria	4.5%	2022	+0.4 pp	+1.2	Europe & Central Asia	High income
72	Saudi Arabia	4.5%	2023	–	–	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan	High income
73	Seychelles	4.5%	2023	+0.9 pp	+0.9	Sub-Saharan Africa	High income
74	Oman	4.4%	2022	−1.6 pp	−1.0	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan	High income
75	Peru	4.4%	2024	+0.5 pp	+2.2	Latin America & Caribbean	Upper middle income
76	Cabo Verde	4.3%	2023	−0.4 pp	−0.8	Sub-Saharan Africa	Upper middle income
77	Latvia	4.3%	2022	−0.2 pp	−1.0	Europe & Central Asia	High income
78	Poland	4.3%	2022	−0.2 pp	−2.6	Europe & Central Asia	High income
79	Czechia	4.3%	2022	+0.5 pp	−0.3	Europe & Central Asia	High income
80	Turkmenistan	4.3%	2024	+1.2 pp	+1.9	Europe & Central Asia	Upper middle income
81	Puerto Rico (US)	4.3%	2024	+0.9 pp	+0.6	Latin America & Caribbean	High income
82	Lithuania	4.3%	2022	+0.4 pp	0.0	Europe & Central Asia	High income
83	Mauritius	4.2%	2024	−0.3 pp	−2.6	Sub-Saharan Africa	Upper middle income
84	Fiji	4.2%	2023	−0.6 pp	−0.6	East Asia & Pacific	Upper middle income
85	Mali	4.2%	2023	+1.2 pp	+2.4	Sub-Saharan Africa	Low income
86	Russian Federation	4.2%	2023	−0.5 pp	+0.3	Europe & Central Asia	High income
87	Togo	4.1%	2023	+0.1 pp	+1.0	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
88	India	4.1%	2022	−0.2 pp	−0.2	South Asia	Lower middle income
89	Niger	4.1%	2023	+0.6 pp	+0.5	Sub-Saharan Africa	Low income
90	Zambia	4.1%	2023	−0.7 pp	0.0	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
91	Italy	4.1%	2022	0.0 pp	−0.2	Europe & Central Asia	High income
92	Mexico	4.1%	2022	−0.3 pp	−1.6	Latin America & Caribbean	Upper middle income
93	Kenya	4.0%	2024	−1.4 pp	−2.1	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
94	Georgia	4.0%	2024	+0.2 pp	+1.5	Europe & Central Asia	Upper middle income
95	Philippines	4.0%	2025	+0.1 pp	+1.0	East Asia & Pacific	Upper middle income
96	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	3.9%	2023	–	–	Latin America & Caribbean	High income
97	China	3.9%	2023	–	–	East Asia & Pacific	Upper middle income
98	St. Lucia	3.8%	2024	+0.6 pp	−0.2	Latin America & Caribbean	Upper middle income
99	Hong Kong SAR, China	3.8%	2024	0.0 pp	+0.4	East Asia & Pacific	High income
100	Hungary	3.8%	2022	−0.8 pp	−2.7	Europe & Central Asia	High income
101	Dominican Republic	3.8%	2023	−0.2 pp	−0.2	Latin America & Caribbean	Upper middle income
102	Luxembourg	3.7%	2022	+0.3 pp	0.0	Europe & Central Asia	High income
103	Ecuador	3.7%	2024	−0.6 pp	−1.2	Latin America & Caribbean	Upper middle income
104	Nepal	3.7%	2024	−0.2 pp	−0.8	South Asia	Lower middle income
105	Azerbaijan	3.7%	2023	+1.2 pp	+1.1	Europe & Central Asia	Upper middle income
106	Cote d'Ivoire	3.6%	2024	+0.2 pp	+0.4	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
107	Barbados	3.6%	2024	−0.2 pp	−1.3	Latin America & Caribbean	High income
108	Paraguay	3.5%	2024	0.0 pp	+0.6	Latin America & Caribbean	Upper middle income
109	Malaysia	3.5%	2023	−1.0 pp	−1.7	East Asia & Pacific	Upper middle income
110	Macao SAR, China	3.5%	2023	+0.8 pp	−0.1	East Asia & Pacific	High income
111	St. Kitts and Nevis	3.5%	2023	+0.5 pp	+1.8	Latin America & Caribbean	High income
112	Palau	3.4%	2023	0.0 pp	–	East Asia & Pacific	High income
113	Serbia	3.4%	2023	0.0 pp	+0.2	Europe & Central Asia	Upper middle income
114	Greece	3.4%	2022	−0.1 pp	–	Europe & Central Asia	High income
115	Congo, Rep.	3.3%	2023	+0.6 pp	−0.4	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
116	El Salvador	3.3%	2024	−0.1 pp	−1.1	Latin America & Caribbean	Upper middle income
117	Romania	3.3%	2022	+0.2 pp	+0.3	Europe & Central Asia	High income
118	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3.2%	2023	−0.6 pp	−0.4	Europe & Central Asia	Upper middle income
119	Trinidad and Tobago	3.2%	2023	−0.2 pp	−0.8	Latin America & Caribbean	High income
120	Jordan	3.2%	2024	+0.2 pp	−0.4	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan	Upper middle income
121	Benin	3.2%	2023	+0.3 pp	+0.6	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
122	Chad	3.2%	2023	+0.9 pp	+3.4	Sub-Saharan Africa	Low income
123	British Virgin Islands	3.2%	2023	+0.7 pp	0.0	Latin America & Caribbean	High income
124	Tanzania	3.2%	2024	−0.4 pp	−1.0	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
125	Antigua and Barbuda	3.1%	2023	+0.8 pp	+1.5	Latin America & Caribbean	High income
126	Turkiye	3.1%	2022	−1.2 pp	−4.0	Europe & Central Asia	Upper middle income
127	Albania	3.1%	2023	0.0 pp	−0.7	Europe & Central Asia	Upper middle income
128	Guatemala	3.1%	2024	−0.1 pp	−0.2	Latin America & Caribbean	Upper middle income
129	Madagascar	3.0%	2023	+0.2 pp	+0.7	Sub-Saharan Africa	Low income
130	Turks and Caicos Islands	3.0%	2024	+0.8 pp	+0.7	Latin America & Caribbean	High income
131	Ghana	2.9%	2022	−0.6 pp	−1.0	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
132	San Marino	2.9%	2022	−0.5 pp	−2.2	Europe & Central Asia	High income
133	Viet Nam	2.9%	2022	−0.5 pp	−1.2	East Asia & Pacific	Upper middle income
134	Nicaragua	2.9%	2023	−1.6 pp	−5.0	Latin America & Caribbean	Lower middle income
135	Suriname	2.9%	2023	−2.1 pp	−2.1	Latin America & Caribbean	Upper middle income
136	Congo, Dem. Rep.	2.8%	2022	+1.4 pp	+1.7	Sub-Saharan Africa	Low income
137	Cameroon	2.8%	2023	−0.2 pp	+0.1	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
138	Iran, Islamic Rep.	2.8%	2023	−0.8 pp	−0.6	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan	Upper middle income
139	Gambia, The	2.8%	2023	+0.4 pp	+0.8	Sub-Saharan Africa	Low income
140	Malawi	2.7%	2022	0.0 pp	−1.1	Sub-Saharan Africa	Low income
141	Bahamas, The	2.7%	2023	+0.2 pp	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean	High income
142	Sierra Leone	2.6%	2023	−1.8 pp	−0.7	Sub-Saharan Africa	Low income
143	Uganda	2.6%	2022	+0.3 pp	+1.3	Sub-Saharan Africa	Low income
144	Thailand	2.5%	2023	−0.7 pp	−1.8	East Asia & Pacific	Upper middle income
145	Angola	2.5%	2023	+0.3 pp	−0.3	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
146	Panama	2.5%	2023	−1.0 pp	−2.8	Latin America & Caribbean	High income
147	Armenia	2.4%	2023	+0.3 pp	−0.4	Europe & Central Asia	Upper middle income
148	Comoros	2.3%	2023	0.0 pp	−0.7	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
149	Gabon	2.3%	2023	−0.8 pp	−1.5	Sub-Saharan Africa	Upper middle income
150	Ethiopia	2.3%	2024	−2.2 pp	−2.8	Sub-Saharan Africa	Low income
151	Liberia	2.3%	2023	−0.2 pp	+0.1	Sub-Saharan Africa	Low income
152	Singapore	2.2%	2024	−0.5 pp	−2.0	East Asia & Pacific	High income
153	Cambodia	2.2%	2023	+0.6 pp	+1.1	East Asia & Pacific	Lower middle income
154	Bangladesh	2.0%	2024	+0.9 pp	+0.3	South Asia	Lower middle income
155	Pakistan	1.9%	2023	−0.4 pp	−1.0	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan	Lower middle income
156	Andorra	1.9%	2023	−1.3 pp	−3.0	Europe & Central Asia	High income
157	Bahrain	1.9%	2023	−0.5 pp	−1.1	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan	High income
158	Bermuda	1.9%	2023	−0.1 pp	+0.2	North America	High income
159	Central African Republic	1.8%	2023	+0.3 pp	−0.5	Sub-Saharan Africa	Low income
160	Sri Lanka	1.8%	2023	−0.2 pp	−0.2	South Asia	Upper middle income
161	Monaco	1.7%	2023	+0.6 pp	+2.8	Europe & Central Asia	High income
162	Guinea	1.7%	2023	−0.7 pp	−2.3	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
163	Cayman Islands	1.6%	2023	−0.6 pp	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean	High income
164	Indonesia	1.3%	2023	+0.3 pp	−0.4	East Asia & Pacific	Upper middle income
165	Lao PDR	1.2%	2023	−1.1 pp	−2.1	East Asia & Pacific	Lower middle income
166	Lebanon	1.2%	2024	−1.3 pp	−1.8	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan	Lower middle income
167	Haiti	1.0%	2023	−0.7 pp	−1.4	Latin America & Caribbean	Lower middle income
168	Papua New Guinea	0.8%	2023	−1.1 pp	−0.7	East Asia & Pacific	Lower middle income
169	Zimbabwe	0.4%	2023	–	–	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
170	Nigeria	0.3%	2023	−0.1 pp	−1.6	Sub-Saharan Africa	Lower middle income
171	Somalia, Fed. Rep.	0.0%	2023	0.0 pp	+1.8	Sub-Saharan Africa	Low income

31 further countries have data for this indicator but nothing recent enough to rank.

How the advanced metrics are calculated. Change: latest value minus the value 5 or 10 years earlier, using the nearest observation within two years where the exact year is missing (percentage points for % series). CAGR: (latest ÷ earlier value)^(1 ÷ years between) − 1 over about 10 years, shown only for positive levels such as income and population. Volatility: standard deviation of the 10 observations before the latest. Z-score: how many standard deviations the latest value sits from that 10-year mean. Rank: among countries whose latest value is within 3 years of the newest year for that indicator; 1 is the highest value. Peer medians: the same group of recent values, split by income group, region and world. Share of high-income median: the country's value as a percentage of the median high-income country in the same year, compared with 10 years earlier. A rising share means the country is catching up; it is arithmetic about the past, not a forecast.

Source. World Bank, World Development Indicators (datacatalog.worldbank.org), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Data retrieved 2026-11-11. Some series are compiled by third parties such as the ILO and UN agencies and are subject to those sources' notes.

Changes made. ECONDEX has calculated all changes, growth rates, volatility, z-scores, ranks, peer medians and charts. The World Bank did not prepare, review or endorse them.

Read with care. The latest figure for each country is often one to three years old and different countries report different years. Some figures are modelled estimates. Ranks compare countries on values from different years and are not judgements of performance. Country names, groupings and boundaries follow World Bank usage and imply no view on the legal status of any territory.

Not advice. For information only. This is not investment, financial, legal or policy advice. Do not rely on it for decisions without checking the source.