Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education was 15.7% in 2017. ▬ Flat

Latest (2017)
15.7%
Change on year
down 3.4%
World rank
53rd
of 194 countries
All-time high
17.1%
in 2010
All-time low
10.4%
in 2012
Years of data
8
2010–2017

Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Afghanistan, 2010–2017

0510152010201320172010: 17.1 %2011: 16 %2012: 10.4 %2013: 14.1 %2014: 14.5 %2015: 12.5 %2016: 16.2 %2017: 15.7 %

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

The most recent figure for share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Afghanistan is 15.7%, measured in 2017.

That represents a change of down 3.4% on the previous year and down 8.3% over ten years.

Afghanistan ranks 53rd of 194 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

Countries ranked near Afghanistan

  1. 50 Puerto Rico 16.0% compare
  2. 51 El Salvador 15.9% compare
  3. 52 Hong Kong 15.7% compare
  4. 54 Iceland 15.7% compare
  5. 55 Saudi Arabia 15.6% compare
  6. 56 Uruguay 15.6% compare

See the full ranking of 194 places →

More economy & growth data for Afghanistan

All data for Afghanistan →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Afghanistan?
Share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Afghanistan was 15.7% in 2017, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education recorded in Afghanistan?
The highest recorded value was 17.1% in 2010.
What is the lowest share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education recorded in Afghanistan?
The lowest recorded value was 10.4% in 2012.
How does Afghanistan rank for share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education?
Afghanistan ranks 53rd out of 194 countries with data for 2017.
Is share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education rising or falling in Afghanistan?
Over the last ten years it is down 8.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
Where does this Afghanistan data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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About this data

Indicator
Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
194 places, 4,043 data points, 1980–2025
Last refreshed

Percentage of total general government spending (across all sectors) that is allocated to education.