Government expenditure on education (% of GDP)
Definition
General government expenditure on education, current and capital, as a share of GDP. UIS data, republished by the World Bank.
- Formula
- Total government expenditure on education / GDP × 100.
- Unit
- %
- License
- CC-BY-4.0
Government expenditure on education (% of GDP)
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Chile
- Colombia
- Mexico
- Latin America & Caribbean
- World
- Government expenditure on education (% of GDP)
- Source: World Bank — World Development Indicators · Source version: 2026-10-08 · Collected on: 2026-11-01 · License: CC-BY-4.0
Download data (CSV) · View the code: collection code · chart.ts
View the data as a table
| Year | Brazil | Argentina | Chile | Colombia | Mexico | Latin America & Caribbean | World |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | – | 1.8 | 3.5 | – | – | – | – |
| 1976 | – | 1.2 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1977 | – | 1.7 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1978 | – | 1.9 | 3.0 | – | – | – | – |
| 1979 | – | 2.4 | 3.4 | 1.8 | – | – | – |
| 1980 | – | 2.6 | 4.1 | 1.7 | – | – | – |
| 1981 | – | – | 4.8 | 2.6 | – | – | – |
| 1982 | – | 1.6 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1983 | – | 1.6 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1984 | – | 2.6 | – | 3.0 | – | – | – |
| 1985 | – | 1.4 | – | 2.7 | – | – | – |
| 1986 | – | 1.3 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1987 | – | 1.3 | 2.8 | – | – | – | – |
| 1989 | – | 1.0 | – | 2.7 | 2.3 | – | – |
| 1990 | – | 1.1 | 2.2 | – | 2.3 | – | – |
| 1991 | – | – | – | – | 2.5 | – | – |
| 1992 | – | – | – | – | 3.0 | – | – |
| 1993 | – | – | 2.4 | – | – | – | – |
| 1994 | – | – | 2.5 | – | 3.5 | – | – |
| 1995 | 4.6 | – | 2.6 | – | 3.5 | 3.0 | – |
| 1996 | – | 3.7 | 2.8 | – | – | – | – |
| 1997 | – | – | 3.0 | – | – | – | – |
| 1998 | 4.8 | 4.0 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 3.2 | 3.3 | – |
| 1999 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 4.0 |
| 2000 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.8 |
| 2001 | 3.8 | 4.8 | – | 3.7 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.9 |
| 2002 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 3.9 |
| 2003 | – | 3.5 | 3.9 | 4.3 | 4.8 | 3.5 | 4.1 |
| 2004 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 3.9 |
| 2005 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 4.6 | – | 4.0 |
| 2006 | 4.9 | 4.1 | 3.0 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 4.0 |
| 2007 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 4.0 |
| 2008 | 5.3 | 4.8 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.2 |
| 2009 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 4.3 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 5.5 | 4.7 |
| 2010 | 5.6 | 5.0 | 4.2 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 4.2 |
| 2011 | 5.7 | 5.3 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 4.1 | 4.1 |
| 2012 | 5.9 | 5.3 | – | 4.4 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.0 |
| 2013 | 5.8 | 5.4 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 4.3 |
| 2014 | 5.9 | 5.4 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 4.2 |
| 2015 | 6.2 | 5.8 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 5.1 | 4.4 | 4.2 |
| 2016 | 6.3 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 4.2 |
| 2017 | 6.3 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.1 |
| 2018 | 6.1 | 4.9 | 5.5 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 4.2 |
| 2019 | 6.0 | 4.8 | 5.6 | 4.5 | – | 4.5 | 4.2 |
| 2020 | 5.8 | 5.3 | 5.6 | 5.3 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.3 |
| 2021 | 5.5 | 4.7 | 5.0 | – | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.2 |
| 2022 | 5.6 | 4.8 | 4.9 | – | 4.1 | 3.9 | 3.9 |
| 2023 | – | 5.0 | – | – | – | 3.8 | 3.6 |
Criticisms of the metric
- It depends on which levels of government the source manages to add up; coverage of states and municipalities may vary across years. Spending does not equal educational results.
References
- World Bank. World Development Indicators — metadata for SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS
- UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Education and science data: methodology. https://uis.unesco.org/