Finland: Government expenditure per student, primary (% of GDP per capita)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2016, Finland's government expenditure per student, primary (% of GDP per capita) fell 0.49 percentage points on 2015 (from 22% to 21.51%).

Across the 16 yearly changes before that (2000 to 2015), the average change was +0.32 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.6 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.4 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 1.82 percentage points in 2009 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.56 percentage points in 2005. 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 0.5 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 85% 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.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 23.68% 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 0.31%, against 0.83% 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, Finland had the 12th highest value of the 31 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 Finland in the 2016 ranking

• Sweden — 9th of 31: 21.74%
• Norway — 10th of 31: 21.7%
• Israel — 11th of 31: 21.53%
• Slovak Republic — 13th of 31: 20.82%
• Estonia — 14th of 31: 20.29%
• Italy — 15th of 31: 19.52%

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 18 values

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

• Andorra — 12.31% (2018)
• Austria — 23.48% (2016)
• Cyprus — 31.88% (2016)
• Czechia — 13.87% (2016)
• Estonia — 20.29% (2016)
• France — 17.36% (2016)
• Germany — 17.44% (2016)
• Hungary — 19.06% (2016)
• Iceland — 22.1% (2016)

More education data for Finland

• 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 — 360,117 (2024)
• Secondary education, pupils — 543,350 (2024)
• School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1 (2020)
• School enrollment, secondary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1.1 (2020)
• Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP) — 6.38% (2022)
• School enrollment, primary and secondary (gross), gender parity index (GPI)

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 Finland's government expenditure per student, primary (% of GDP per capita)?

21.51% in 2016, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1999?

It is up 4.69 percentage points from 16.82% in 1999. The highest value was 22% in 2015 and the lowest 16.32% in 2000.

Source

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