Education enrolment linked to national expenditure
Comparing Gross national expenditure (current US$) with Enrolment in primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled across 162 countries, 2018–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.58
- Holding size constant
- -0.47
- Countries compared
- 162
- Period
- 2018–2025
What might link these
The relationship between primary education enrolment and gross national expenditure might be influenced by a country's overall development stage, with more developed countries typically having both higher expenditure and better education systems. A careful reader should be cautious about potential confounders like government prioritization of education. The partial correlation controlling for population and GDP suggests a more complex relationship than initially apparent.
Why this is not proof of anything
This is a correlation across countries, not an experiment. It cannot show that either indicator causes the other, and both may simply follow a third thing. This correlation could mislead by implying a direct link between education spending and enrolment, when in fact other factors like cultural or political priorities may play a significant role.
The second figure above repeats the measurement with national population and income held constant. It is the more conservative number: a relationship that largely disappears there was mostly telling you that larger, richer countries have more of most things.
How this was measured
Both indicators were ranked across every country reporting each, and the two rankings compared — ranks rather than raw values, because a handful of very large countries can otherwise manufacture a relationship on their own. The calculation is arithmetic over figures already published on this site; the commentary above is drafted from the two indicator names and the resulting coefficients.