Mapped: Which Countries Spend the Most on Education?

Mapped: Which Countries Spend the Most on Education?

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Government spending on education offers a window into national priorities, but comparing raw budgets can be misleading.

This visualization, created by Iswardi Ishak, maps education spending as a share of GDP across 181 countries using data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, with additional data from Our World in Data.

Expressing spending as a share of GDP makes it easier to compare countries with vastly different economic sizes. While national wealth influences education budgets, policy choices, demographics, and fiscal capacity also shape how much governments invest in their education systems.

Education Spending as a Share of GDP, by Country

The table below shows education spending as a share of GDP across 181 countries.

Rank	Country/Territory	Education Spending as % of GDP
1	Kiribati	16.39
2	Tuvalu	12.85
3	Micronesia	11.56
4	Namibia	9.08
5	Algeria	8.98
6	Cuba	8.44
7	Solomon Islands	8.29
8	Botswana	8.06
9	Marshall Islands	7.70
10	Vanuatu	7.64
11	Mauritania	7.61
12	Bolivia	7.54
13	Sweden	7.32
14	Iceland	7.31
15	Kyrgyzstan	6.83
16	Tunisia	6.73
17	Lesotho	6.62
18	Moldova	6.56
19	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	6.46
20	Kuwait	6.44
21	Finland	6.38
22	Denmark	6.36
23	Belgium	6.28
24	Senegal	6.16
25	Eswatini	6.03
26	South Africa	6.02
27	Morocco	6.02
28	Mozambique	5.98
29	Israel	5.93
30	United Kingdom	5.91
31	Bhutan	5.85
32	Nauru	5.78
33	Brazil	5.62
34	Jamaica	5.51
35	Uzbekistan	5.47
36	Samoa	5.46
37	Tajikistan	5.44
38	Palestine	5.43
39	Norway	5.43
40	United States	5.42
41	South Korea	5.41
42	Dominica	5.39
43	Burkina Faso	5.33
44	France	5.32
45	Costa Rica	5.31
46	Tonga	5.31
47	Slovenia	5.28
48	Austria	5.28
49	Colombia	5.26
50	East Timor	5.24
51	Germany	5.24
52	New Zealand	5.21
53	Mongolia	5.21
54	Estonia	5.21
55	Netherlands	5.18
56	Maldives	5.17
57	Ukraine	5.14
58	Grenada	5.13
59	Australia	5.06
60	Belarus	5.05
61	Sao Tome and Principe	5.03
62	Argentina	5.00
63	Chile	4.91
64	Kazakhstan	4.86
65	Switzerland	4.86
66	Canada	4.84
67	Uruguay	4.76
68	Cyprus	4.74
69	Malta	4.71
70	Slovakia	4.66
71	Belize	4.62
72	Rwanda	4.61
73	Spain	4.59
74	Portugal	4.55
75	Honduras	4.55
76	Burundi	4.50
77	Bulgaria	4.50
78	Saudi Arabia	4.48
79	Seychelles	4.45
80	Guyana	4.45
81	Brunei	4.43
82	Oman	4.38
83	Peru	4.36
84	Cape Verde	4.35
85	Afghanistan	4.34
86	Latvia	4.32
87	Poland	4.31
88	Czechia	4.30
89	Turkmenistan	4.29
90	Puerto Rico	4.27
91	Lithuania	4.25
92	Mauritius	4.25
93	Fiji	4.25
94	Mali	4.18
95	Russia	4.16
96	Togo	4.14
97	India	4.10
98	Croatia	4.09
99	Niger	4.07
100	Zambia	4.07
101	Italy	4.07
102	Mexico	4.06
103	Kenya	4.02
104	Georgia	3.98
105	Philippines	3.97
106	China	3.90
107	United Arab Emirates	3.89
108	Saint Lucia	3.85
109	Hungary	3.80
110	Dominican Republic	3.76
111	Djibouti	3.75
112	Luxembourg	3.74
113	Ecuador	3.69
114	Nepal	3.69
115	Azerbaijan	3.66
116	Cote d’Ivoire	3.61
117	Barbados	3.56
118	Paraguay	3.53
119	Malaysia	3.51
120	Saint Kitts and Nevis	3.50
121	Palau	3.44
122	Serbia	3.40
123	Greece	3.38
124	Congo	3.34
125	Japan	3.34
126	El Salvador	3.32
127	Romania	3.28
128	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3.25
129	Qatar	3.23
130	Trinidad and Tobago	3.23
131	Jordan	3.23
132	Benin	3.23
133	Chad	3.20
134	Tanzania	3.16
135	Antigua and Barbuda	3.11
136	Turkey	3.10
137	Albania	3.09
138	Guatemala	3.08
139	Madagascar	3.05
140	Ghana	2.91
141	Ireland	2.90
142	San Marino	2.90
143	Vietnam	2.89
144	Nicaragua	2.87
145	Suriname	2.87
146	Democratic Republic of Congo	2.84
147	Cameroon	2.84
148	Iran	2.82
149	Gambia	2.81
150	Malawi	2.75
151	Bahamas	2.74
152	Sierra Leone	2.62
153	Uganda	2.56
154	Thailand	2.52
155	Angola	2.51
156	Panama	2.47
157	Armenia	2.44
158	Comoros	2.34
159	Gabon	2.32
160	Ethiopia	2.30
161	Liberia	2.27
162	Singapore	2.19
163	Cambodia	2.18
164	Bangladesh	2.03
165	Myanmar	2.00
166	Pakistan	1.95
167	Andorra	1.90
168	Bahrain	1.89
169	Central African Republic	1.83
170	Sri Lanka	1.83
171	Monaco	1.73
172	Guinea	1.72
173	South Sudan	1.57
174	Indonesia	1.28
175	Laos	1.23
176	Lebanon	1.22
177	Haiti	0.96
178	Papua New Guinea	0.78
179	Zimbabwe	0.38
180	Nigeria	0.32
181	Somalia	0.0000081

Small island nations dominate the top of the global rankings. Kiribati leads at 16.4% of GDP, followed by Tuvalu (12.9%) and Micronesia (11.6%). Namibia (9.1%) and Algeria (9.0%) also rank highly, showing that large education budgets relative to GDP are not limited to wealthy economies.

Among the world’s 40 largest economies, Sweden leads with 7.3% of GDP dedicated to education, followed by Denmark (6.4%) and Belgium (6.3%). The U.K. (5.9%), Brazil (5.6%), the U.S. (5.4%), and South Korea (5.4%) also rank among the highest-spending major economies.

Why Do Some Countries Spend More Than Others?

Education spending reflects a combination of political priorities, demographics, and fiscal capacity. According to the OECD, countries with younger populations often require larger investments to accommodate growing numbers of students, while aging societies may face less enrollment pressure. Governments must also balance education spending against competing demands such as healthcare, pensions, and infrastructure.

Spending alone, however, does not determine educational outcomes. The World Bank argues that how funds are allocated can be just as important as the size of the budget. Teacher quality, governance, and accountability can all influence whether additional spending improves learning outcomes.

Patterns Across Major Economies

Economic development alone does not explain education spending. High-income countries appear near both the top and bottom of the rankings among major economies. Sweden and Denmark devote more than 6% of GDP to education, while Singapore (2.2%), Ireland (2.9%), and Japan (3.3%) spend considerably smaller shares.

Several emerging economies also allocate larger shares than many wealthier countries. Brazil spends 5.6% of GDP on education, while South Africa spends 6.0%. This suggests that education budgets depend on national policy choices as much as economic output, much like broader differences in tax revenue as a share of GDP.

A higher share of GDP does not automatically translate into stronger educational outcomes. Results also depend on how effectively funding is used, including the quality of teaching, curriculum design, governance, and access to education. Countries with similar spending levels can therefore achieve very different outcomes.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

For another look at how economic conditions vary around the world, see India is Projected to Have the Highest GDP Growth of Key Economies on the Voronoi app.

• Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/countries-spend-most-on-education-gdp-map/