Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Australia
Australia: Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education was 12.6% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Australia, 1988–2022
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Australia recorded 12.6% for share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in 2022.
The figure is up 4.4% on the previous year.
Over the whole period, share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Australia peaked at 15.0% in 1993 and was at its lowest, 12.1%, in 2021.
That places Australia 98th out of 194 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 10 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 13.3% | 13.2% | 13.4% | 2 |
| 1990s | 14.0% | 13.2% | 15.0% | 5 |
| 2020s | 12.3% | 12.1% | 12.6% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 95 Saint Lucia 12.7% compare
- 96 New Zealand 12.7% compare
- 97 Ukraine 12.7% compare
- 99 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 12.6% compare
- 100 Thailand 12.6% compare
- 101 Trinidad and Tobago 12.6% compare
More economy & growth data for Australia
- Exports of goods and services 0.8% (2025)
- Final consumption expenditure 75.0% (2025)
- Gross national expenditure 1.79 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Gross national expenditure 2.76 trillion current LCU (2025)
- Gross national expenditure 99.5% (2025)
- Exports of goods and services 418.06 billion current US$ (2025)
- Exports of goods and services 645.94 billion current LCU (2025)
- Exports of goods and services 329.56 billion constant 2015 US$ (2025)
- Gross fixed capital formation 437.56 billion current US$ (2025)
- Industry (including construction), value added -0.6% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Australia?
- Share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Australia was 12.6% in 2022, 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 Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 15.0% in 1993.
- What is the lowest share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 12.1% in 2021.
- How does Australia rank for share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education?
- Australia ranks 98th out of 194 countries with data for 2022.
- Where does this Australia 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.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 10 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of total general government spending (across all sectors) that is allocated to education.