Kenya: Expenditure on tertiary education (% of government expenditure on education)

Key figures

Since 1971 it is down 2.01 percentage points from 15.09% in 1971. The World Bank has no value for 14 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2015, Kenya's expenditure on tertiary education (% of government expenditure on education) fell 0.63 percentage points on 2014 (from 13.7% to 13.07%).

Across the 22 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2014), the average change was −0.62 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.77 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.0 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 4.83 percentage points in 2012 and the biggest yearly fall was 8.54 percentage points in 1992. 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, Kenya had the 14th highest value of the 16 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 Kenya in the 2015 ranking

• Indonesia — 10th of 16: 15.8%
• Burkina Faso — 11th of 16: 13.65%
• Luxembourg — 12th of 16: 13.1%
• Gambia, The — 14th of 16: 11.33%
• Nepal — 15th of 16: 10.8%
• Tajikistan — 16th of 16: 9.95%

What this measures

Expenditure on tertiary 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 31 values

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

• Benin — 22.15% (2015)
• Burkina Faso — 13.65% (2015)
• Cabo Verde — 17.15% (2017)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 23.81% (2015)
• Côte d'Ivoire — 14.03% (2018)
• Ethiopia — 47.85% (2015)
• Gambia, The — 11.33% (2015)
• Guinea — 17.3% (2018)

More education data for Kenya

• 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 — 8.04 million (2023)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 98.25% (2023)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 96.63% (2023)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 99.85% (2023)
• School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 0.97 (2019)
• Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP)

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 Kenya's expenditure on tertiary education (% of government expenditure on education)?

13.07% in 2015, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1971?

It is down 2.01 percentage points from 15.09% in 1971. The highest value was 28.57% in 1991 and the lowest 11.19% in 1976.

How does Kenya rank?

14th highest of 16 economies with data for 2015.

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

In 2015, Kenya's expenditure on tertiary education (% of government expenditure on education) fell 0.63 percentage points on 2014 (from 13.7% to 13.07%). Across the 22 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2014), the average change was −0.62 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.77 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.0 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.TERT.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.

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.