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

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2018, Mauritius' expenditure on tertiary education (% of government expenditure on education) rose 0.56 percentage points on 2017 (from 5.86% to 6.42%).

Across the 27 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2017), the average change was −0.19 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.74 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 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 10.71 percentage points in 1991 and the biggest yearly fall was 5.63 percentage points in 1978. 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 0.56 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 74% 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 2018, Mauritius had the 21st highest value of the 23 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 Mauritius in the 2018 ranking

• Kazakhstan — 18th of 23: 9.38%
• El Salvador — 19th of 23: 9.17%
• Lesotho — 20th of 23: 7.41%
• Andorra — 22nd of 23: 5.64%
• St. Lucia — 23rd of 23: 0%

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 34 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 Mauritius

• Primary school starting age (years) — 5 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 11 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 7 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 84,530 (2024)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 107.35% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 107.78% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 106.94% (2024)
• Primary education, teachers — 6,144 (2024)
• School enrollment, tertiary (% gross) — 45.78% (2024)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Mauritius's expenditure on tertiary education (% of government expenditure on education)?

6.42% in 2018, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1971?

It is down 4.76 percentage points from 11.18% in 1971. The highest value was 18.15% in 1991 and the lowest 5.37% in 1986.

How does Mauritius rank?

21st highest of 23 economies with data for 2018.

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

In 2018, Mauritius' expenditure on tertiary education (% of government expenditure on education) rose 0.56 percentage points on 2017 (from 5.86% to 6.42%). Across the 27 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2017), the average change was −0.19 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.74 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 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.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.

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