Cyprus: Expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2016, Cyprus' expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education) rose 0.54 percentage points on 2015 (from 32.21% to 32.75%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1978 to 2015), the average change was −0.2 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.41 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 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 3.59 percentage points in 2001 and the biggest yearly fall was 3.67 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 2007 to 2016 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.54 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 80% of the movement over 9 observed years.

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

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 34.26% for 2019. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2014 to 2016 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 0.56%, against 1.56% for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2016, Cyprus had the 8th highest value of the 37 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Cyprus in the 2016 ranking

• Paraguay — 5th of 37: 36.44%
• Maldives — 6th of 37: 36.4%
• Australia — 7th of 37: 32.99%
• Mexico — 9th of 37: 32.45%
• United Kingdom — 10th of 37: 32.33%
• Latvia — 11th of 37: 32.02%

What this measures

Expenditure on primary education is expressed as a percentage of total general government expenditure on education. General government usually refers to local, regional and central governments.

Limitations: Data disaggregated by level of education are estimates in some instances. It is often difficult to separate lower from upper secondary education expenditure, or pre-primary from primary.

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

All 42 values

Expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education) in nearby economies

• Andorra — 21.42% (2018)
• Austria — 16.6% (2016)
• Belgium — 23.81% (2016)
• Czechia — 13.24% (2016)
• Estonia — 24.97% (2016)
• Finland — 20.51% (2016)
• Germany — 12.92% (2016)
• Hungary — 16.22% (2016)

More education data for Cyprus

• Primary school starting age (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 12 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 60,596 (2024)
• Secondary education, pupils — 61,230 (2024)
• Primary education, teachers — 5,389 (2023)
• Primary education, teachers (% female) — 84.32% (2023)
• Secondary education, teachers — 8,083 (2023)
• Secondary education, teachers, female — 5,479 (2023)
• Secondary education, teachers (% female)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Cyprus's expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education)?

32.75% in 2016, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1970?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.XPD.PRIM.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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