South Africa: Expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education)

Key figures

Since 1999 it is down 6.25 percentage points from 44.99% in 1999. The World Bank has no value for 3 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2018, South Africa's expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education) fell 0.14 percentage points on 2017 (from 38.89% to 38.75%).

Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2000 to 2017), the average change was −0.39 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.75 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 2.5 percentage points in 2005 and the biggest yearly fall was 2.81 percentage points in 2007. 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 2018, South Africa had the 6th 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 South Africa in the 2018 ranking

• Guatemala — 3rd of 23: 55.6%
• Côte d'Ivoire — 4th of 23: 47.29%
• El Salvador — 5th of 23: 46.16%
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines — 7th of 23: 36.9%
• St. Lucia — 8th of 23: 35.07%
• Jamaica — 9th of 23: 34.16%

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 17 values

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

• Benin — 49.81% (2015)
• Burkina Faso — 57.87% (2015)
• Cabo Verde — 38.09% (2017)
• Côte d'Ivoire — 47.29% (2018)
• Ethiopia — 27.45% (2015)
• Gambia, The — 55.84% (2015)
• Guinea — 61.65% (2018)
• Kenya — 36.34% (2015)

More education data for South Africa

• Primary school starting age (years) — 7 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 7 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 14 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 5 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 7.52 million (2023)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 101.77% (2023)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 99.21% (2023)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 104.32% (2023)
• Government expenditure on education, total (% of government expenditure) — 19.14% (2025)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is South Africa's expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education)?

38.75% in 2018, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1999?

It is down 6.25 percentage points from 44.99% in 1999. The highest value was 45.93% in 2000 and the lowest 38.75% in 2018.

How does South Africa rank?

6th highest of 23 economies with data for 2018.

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

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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