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

Key figures

Over five years it is down 9.13 percentage points from 32.39% in 2010. Since 1970 it is down 18.47 percentage points from 41.72% in 1970. The World Bank has no value for 30 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2015, Ecuador's expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education) fell 2.45 percentage points on 2014 (from 25.71% to 23.26%).

Across the 9 yearly changes before that (1971 to 2014), the average change was −0.1 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.13 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations below 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 4.13 percentage points in 1971 and the biggest yearly fall was 5.25 percentage points in 2014. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

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

How it compares

In 2015, Ecuador had the 13th highest value of the 12 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 Ecuador in the 2015 ranking

• Ethiopia — 9th of 12: 27.45%
• Brazil — 10th of 12: 25.62%
• Malta — 11th of 12: 24.27%

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 16 values

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

• Argentina — 29.59% (2017)
• Aruba — 27.53% (2016)
• Barbados — 29.61% (2016)
• Belize — 31.38% (2017)
• Brazil — 25.62% (2015)
• British Virgin Islands — 29.86% (2017)
• Chile — 27.91% (2017)
• Colombia — 32.71% (2018)

More education data for Ecuador

• 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 — 1.72 million (2024)
• Primary education, teachers — 77,432 (2024)
• School enrollment, preprimary (% gross) — 55.29% (2021)
• Primary education, teachers (% female) — 79.45% (2024)
• Secondary education, pupils — 1.79 million (2024)
• Pupil-teacher ratio, preprimary — 19.32 (2018)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

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

23.26% in 2015, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1970?

It is down 18.47 percentage points from 41.72% in 1970. The highest value was 46.71% in 1986 and the lowest 23.26% in 2015.

How does Ecuador rank?

13th highest of 12 economies with data for 2015.

Is the latest change in expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education) unusual for Ecuador?

In 2015, Ecuador's expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education) fell 2.45 percentage points on 2014 (from 25.71% to 23.26%). Across the 9 yearly changes before that (1971 to 2014), the average change was −0.1 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.13 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations below 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.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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