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

Key figures

Since 1971 it is up 3.84 percentage points from 18.27% in 1971. The World Bank has no value for 16 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2017, Pakistan's expenditure on tertiary education (% of government expenditure on education) fell 0.09 percentage points on 2016 (from 22.2% to 22.11%).

Across the 27 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2016), the average change was −0.45 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.94 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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 6.08 percentage points in 1974 and the biggest yearly fall was 9.91 percentage points in 2014. 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 2017, Pakistan had the 7th highest value of the 20 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 Pakistan in the 2017 ranking

• Ukraine — 4th of 20: 24.99%
• Uruguay — 5th of 20: 24.8%
• Niger — 6th of 20: 23.26%
• Argentina — 8th of 20: 22.08%
• Togo — 9th of 20: 17.74%
• Mali — 10th of 20: 17.29%

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 31 values

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

• Afghanistan — 15.95% (2015)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 28.24% (2018)
• Israel — 15.16% (2016)
• Jordan — 22.75% (2018)
• Malta — 25.33% (2015)
• Tunisia — 23.94% (2015)

More education data for Pakistan

• Primary school starting age (years) — 5 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 5 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 10 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 7 (2025)
• Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP) — 1.95% (2023)
• Primary education, pupils — 25.38 million (2024)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 83.73% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 82.44% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 84.96% (2024)
• Primary education, teachers

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

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

22.11% in 2017, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1971?

It is up 3.84 percentage points from 18.27% in 1971. The highest value was 32.23% in 2013 and the lowest 11.88% in 1997.

How does Pakistan rank?

7th highest of 20 economies with data for 2017.

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

In 2017, Pakistan's expenditure on tertiary education (% of government expenditure on education) fell 0.09 percentage points on 2016 (from 22.2% to 22.11%). Across the 27 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2016), the average change was −0.45 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.94 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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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