OECD members: Expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2016, OECD members' expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education) rose 1.64 percentage points on 2015 (from 25.29% to 26.94%).

Across the 20 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2015), the average change was −0.13 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.8 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 1.64 percentage points in 2016 and the biggest yearly fall was 2.67 percentage points in 1995. 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 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 19% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

What this measures

Expenditure on primary 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 25 values

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

• Afghanistan — 44.19% (2017)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 33.07% (2018)
• Israel — 38.91% (2016)
• Malta — 24.27% (2015)
• Pakistan — 31.05% (2015)

More education data for OECD members

• Primary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 91.38 million (2024)
• Primary education, teachers — 6.28 million (2024)
• Primary education, teachers (% female) — 81.25% (2024)
• Secondary education, pupils — 116.41 million (2024)
• Secondary education, teachers — 8.66 million (2024)
• Persistence to last grade of primary, total (% of cohort) — 94.07% (2023)
• School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1 (2020)
• School enrollment, primary and secondary (gross), gender parity index (GPI)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is OECD members's expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education)?

26.94% in 2016, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1979?

It is down 11.06 percentage points from 37.99% in 1979. The highest value was 37.99% in 1979 and the lowest 24.93% in 1996.

Is the latest change in expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education) unusual for OECD members?

In 2016, OECD members' expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education) rose 1.64 percentage points on 2015 (from 25.29% to 26.94%). Across the 20 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2015), the average change was −0.13 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.8 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.PRIM.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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