Colombia: Government expenditure per student, tertiary (% of GDP per capita)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2018, Colombia's government expenditure per student, tertiary (% of GDP per capita) rose 1.25 percentage points on 2017 (from 20.4% to 21.64%).

Across the 13 yearly changes before that (1999 to 2017), the average change was −0.75 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.34 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 4.08 percentage points in 1999 and the biggest yearly fall was 8.01 percentage points in 2000. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2009 to 2018 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.74 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 50% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

Closest to Colombia in the 2018 ranking

• Hong Kong SAR, China — 4th of 8: 24.2%
• Malaysia — 5th of 8: 23.75%
• Andorra — 6th of 8: 22.29%
• El Salvador — 8th of 8: 11.13%

What this measures

Government expenditure per student is the average general government expenditure (current, capital, and transfers) per student in the given level of education, expressed as a percentage of GDP per capita.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a median.

All 17 values

Government expenditure per student, tertiary (% of GDP per capita) in nearby economies

• Argentina — 16.91% (2017)
• Aruba — 100.24% (2016)
• Belize — 27.32% (2017)
• Brazil — 33.04% (2015)
• Chile — 20.26% (2017)
• El Salvador — 11.13% (2018)
• Jamaica — 36.59% (2015)
• Mexico — 29.66% (2016)
• Uruguay

More education data for Colombia

• Primary school starting age (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 5 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 11 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 4.14 million (2022)
• Primary education, teachers — 180,781 (2022)
• School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 0.97 (2020)
• Secondary education, pupils — 4.85 million (2022)
• Primary education, pupils (% female) — 48.13% (2018)
• Pupil-teacher ratio, primary — 23.3 (2018)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Colombia's government expenditure per student, tertiary (% of GDP per capita)?

21.64% in 2018, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1998?

It is down 11.9 percentage points from 33.54% in 1998. The highest value was 37.62% in 1999 and the lowest 19.08% in 2013.

Is the latest change in government expenditure per student, tertiary (% of GDP per capita) unusual for Colombia?

In 2018, Colombia's government expenditure per student, tertiary (% of GDP per capita) rose 1.25 percentage points on 2017 (from 20.4% to 21.64%). Across the 13 yearly changes before that (1999 to 2017), the average change was −0.75 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.34 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.XPD.TERT.PC.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Stat Bulk Data Download Service, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: https://uis.unesco.org/bdds, publisher: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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