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

Key figures

Over five years it is up 0.03 percentage points from 11.1% in 2013. Since 1998 it is up 0.07 percentage points from 11.06% in 1998. The World Bank has no value for 5 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2018, El Salvador's government expenditure per student, tertiary (% of GDP per capita) fell 0.88 percentage points on 2017 (from 12.01% to 11.13%).

Across the 9 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2017), the average change was +0.01 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.61 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 1.21 percentage points in 2017 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.96 percentage points in 2006. 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 1.04 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 57% 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.

Closest to El Salvador in the 2018 ranking

• Malaysia — 5th of 8: 23.75%
• Andorra — 6th of 8: 22.29%
• Colombia — 7th of 8: 21.64%

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 16 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)
• Colombia — 21.64% (2018)
• Jamaica — 36.59% (2015)
• Mexico — 29.66% (2016)
• Uruguay — 25.39% (2017)

More education data for El Salvador

• Primary school starting age (years) — 7 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 13 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 594,860 (2024)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 89.88% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 90.18% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 89.6% (2024)
• School enrollment, tertiary (% gross) — 32.83% (2024)
• Primary education, pupils (% female)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

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

11.13% in 2018, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1998?

It is up 0.07 percentage points from 11.06% in 1998. The highest value was 20.87% in 2009 and the lowest 9.78% in 2000.

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

In 2018, El Salvador's government expenditure per student, tertiary (% of GDP per capita) fell 0.88 percentage points on 2017 (from 12.01% to 11.13%). Across the 9 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2017), the average change was +0.01 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.61 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

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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