New Zealand: Expenditure on secondary education (% of government expenditure on education)

Key figures

Since 1973 it is up 5.57 percentage points from 30.04% in 1973. The World Bank has no value for 20 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2016, New Zealand's expenditure on secondary education (% of government expenditure on education) fell 1.36 percentage points on 2015 (from 36.98% to 35.61%).

Across the 19 yearly changes before that (1974 to 2015), the average change was −0.47 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.88 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 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 4.6 percentage points in 1977 and the biggest yearly fall was 7.81 percentage points in 1980. 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, New Zealand had the 17th 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 New Zealand in the 2016 ranking

• United Kingdom — 13th of 35: 37.84%
• Spain — 14th of 35: 37.32%
• Finland — 15th of 35: 36.95%
• Ireland — 17th of 35: 35.55%
• Slovenia — 18th of 35: 34.51%
• Latvia — 19th of 35: 33.4%

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 24 values

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

• Australia — 31.28% (2016)
• Brunei Darussalam — 60.84% (2016)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 31.32% (2018)
• Indonesia — 27% (2015)
• Korea, Rep. — 38.68% (2016)
• Malaysia — 41.37% (2018)
• Mongolia — 29.23% (2017)
• Vanuatu — 32.9% (2017)

More education data for New Zealand

• 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 — 383,018 (2024)
• Secondary education, pupils — 562,417 (2024)
• School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1 (2020)
• School enrollment, primary and secondary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1.03 (2020)
• School enrollment, secondary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1.05 (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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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

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

35.61% in 2016, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1973?

It is up 5.57 percentage points from 30.04% in 1973. The highest value was 42.86% in 1994 and the lowest 26.09% in 1989.

How does New Zealand rank?

17th highest of 35 economies with data for 2016.

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

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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