Latvia: Expenditure on secondary education (% of government expenditure on education)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2016, Latvia's expenditure on secondary education (% of government expenditure on education) rose 2.01 percentage points on 2015 (from 31.39% to 33.4%).

Across the 16 yearly changes before that (1998 to 2015), the average change was −1.12 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 5.93 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 4.36 percentage points in 2000 and the biggest yearly fall was 21.78 percentage points in 1998. 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 downward, about 1.22 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 84% 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.

How it compares

In 2016, Latvia had the 19th highest value of the 35 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 Latvia in the 2016 ranking

• New Zealand — 16th of 35: 35.61%
• Ireland — 17th of 35: 35.55%
• Slovenia — 18th of 35: 34.51%
• Aruba — 20th of 35: 33.25%
• Mexico — 21st of 35: 32.94%
• Monaco — 22nd of 35: 31.46%

What this measures

Expenditure on secondary 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 19 values

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

• Andorra — 25.31% (2018)
• Austria — 39.63% (2016)
• Cyprus — 40.95% (2016)
• Czechia — 29.01% (2016)
• Estonia — 25.2% (2016)
• Finland — 36.95% (2016)
• Germany — 41.26% (2016)
• Hungary — 40.2% (2016)

More education data for Latvia

• 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 — 123,956 (2024)
• Primary education, teachers — 9,966 (2024)
• Secondary education, pupils — 123,994 (2024)
• Pupil-teacher ratio, primary — 11.54 (2017)
• Secondary education, teachers — 12,484 (2024)
• Pupil-teacher ratio, lower secondary — 7.48 (2017)
• Pupil-teacher ratio, tertiary

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Latvia's expenditure on secondary education (% of government expenditure on education)?

33.4% in 2016, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1997?

It is down 29.27 percentage points from 62.68% in 1997. The highest value was 62.68% in 1997 and the lowest 31.2% in 2014.

How does Latvia rank?

19th highest of 35 economies with data for 2016.

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

In 2016, Latvia's expenditure on secondary education (% of government expenditure on education) rose 2.01 percentage points on 2015 (from 31.39% to 33.4%). Across the 16 yearly changes before that (1998 to 2015), the average change was −1.12 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 5.93 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.

Source

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