Government expenditure on education (current and capital) expressed as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in a given financial year.
Data on education expenditure are provided by country governments through their responses to the annual UIS survey on formal education or the UNESCO-OECD-Eurostat (UOE) data collection. The information used to complete the education expenditure questionnaire is typically sourced from annual financial reports issued by the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of Education, or from national accounts books prepared by the National Statistical Office.
GDP data are sourced from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI) online database, which is updated quarterly, typically in March, June, September, and December. The calculation of the indicator is based on the June update for the UIS September data release and the December update for the UIS February/March data refresh.
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Government expenditure on education in a given financial year expressed as percentage of the GDP for the same financial year.
Government expenditure on education by level of education, GDP data.
In general, high values of the indicator denote great government policy priority for education.
Values of at least 4% to 6% indicate that the country meets the benchmark endorsed by the Education 2030 Framework for Action.
When disaggregated by level of education, this indicator informs about the emphasis of government policy priority across levels of education.
In some instances, data on government expenditure on education refer only to the Ministry of Education, excluding other ministries that may spend part of their budget on educational activities.
To assess a government's policy emphasis on education relative to its national economic wealth.
The Education 2030 Framework for Action endorses this indicator as a key benchmark for a government financing of education, allocating at least 4% to 6% of its GDP. The indicator also reflects the commitment of a government to invest in human capital development.
The indicator should be produced based on consistent and actual data on total government expenditures on education and GDP data. Government expenditure on education should include those incurred by all concerned ministries and levels of administration. The fact that the fiscal year and educational year budget periods may be different should also be taken into consideration.
The UIS maintains a global database used to produce this indicator and defines the protocols and standards for data reporting by countries.
The World Bank ensure GDP data quality by using standards, methodologies, sources, definitions, and classifications that are internationally accepted.
By level of education.