Sri Lanka: Expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education)

Key figures

Over five years it is up 6.86 percentage points from 22.99% in 2013. Since 1973 it is down 4.41 percentage points from 34.27% in 1973. The World Bank has no value for 35 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2018, Sri Lanka's expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education) fell 3.52 percentage points on 2017 (from 33.38% to 29.86%).

Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2010 to 2017), the average change was +0.63 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.53 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.2 standard deviations below 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 6.59 percentage points in 2016 and the biggest yearly fall was 3.52 percentage points in 2018. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2009 to 2018 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.88 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 44% of the movement over 10 observed 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, Sri Lanka had the 17th 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 Sri Lanka in the 2018 ranking

• Colombia — 13th of 23: 32.71%
• Senegal — 14th of 23: 31.67%
• Sierra Leone — 15th of 23: 31.02%
• Costa Rica — 17th of 23: 28.67%
• Rwanda — 18th of 23: 28.56%
• Moldova — 19th of 23: 23.33%

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 11 values

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

• Maldives — 36.4% (2016)
• Nepal — 53.77% (2015)

More education data for Sri Lanka

• 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) — 8 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 1.58 million (2023)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 91.45% (2023)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 92.09% (2023)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 90.84% (2023)
• School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1 (2020)
• Secondary education, general pupils

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Sri Lanka's expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education)?

29.86% in 2018, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1973?

It is down 4.41 percentage points from 34.27% in 1973. The highest value was 34.9% in 2016 and the lowest 22.99% in 2013.

How does Sri Lanka rank?

17th highest of 23 economies with data for 2018.

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

In 2018, Sri Lanka's expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education) fell 3.52 percentage points on 2017 (from 33.38% to 29.86%). Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2010 to 2017), the average change was +0.63 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.53 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.2 standard deviations below 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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