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

Key figures

Since 1970 it is up 6.77 percentage points from 25.15% in 1970. The World Bank has no value for 19 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2016, Netherlands' expenditure on tertiary education (% of government expenditure on education) rose 1.8 percentage points on 2015 (from 30.13% to 31.93%).

Across the 22 yearly changes before that (1971 to 2015), the average change was +0.11 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.34 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 standard deviations above 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 4.22 percentage points in 1987 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.78 percentage points in 1988. 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 2016, Netherlands had the 4th 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 Netherlands in the 2016 ranking

• Bangladesh — 1st of 35: 33.28%
• Austria — 2nd of 35: 32.49%
• Estonia — 4th of 35: 27.12%
• Australia — 5th of 35: 26.82%
• Norway — 6th of 35: 26.72%

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 28 values

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

• Andorra — 5.64% (2018)
• Armenia — 12.99% (2017)
• Austria — 32.49% (2016)
• Azerbaijan — 16.4% (2017)
• Belarus — 16.48% (2017)
• Belgium — 22.28% (2016)
• Cyprus — 20.78% (2016)
• Czechia — 12.6% (2016)

More education data for Netherlands

• 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 — 1.14 million (2023)
• Secondary education, pupils — 1.61 million (2023)
• Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP) — 5.18% (2022)
• School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1 (2020)
• School enrollment, primary and secondary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1.01 (2020)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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Questions people ask

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

31.93% in 2016, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1970?

It is up 6.77 percentage points from 25.15% in 1970. The highest value was 33.25% in 1990 and the lowest 25.15% in 1970.

How does Netherlands rank?

4th highest of 35 economies with data for 2016.

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

In 2016, Netherlands' expenditure on tertiary education (% of government expenditure on education) rose 1.8 percentage points on 2015 (from 30.13% to 31.93%). Across the 22 yearly changes before that (1971 to 2015), the average change was +0.11 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.34 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 standard deviations above 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.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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