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

Eswatini: Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education was 19.2% in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
19.2%
Change on year
down 0.7%
World rank
23rd
of 194 countries
All-time high
25.1%
in 1989
All-time low
15.3%
in 2021
Years of data
35
1981–2025

Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Eswatini, 1981–2025

01020301981200320251981: 23.8 %1982: 20.4 %1987: 20.5 %1988: 21.8 %1989: 25.1 %1990: 23.5 %1994: 20 %1995: 20.7 %1996: 21.8 %1999: 20.4 %2000: 18.7 %2001: 19.7 %2002: 17.3 %2003: 22.1 %2004: 21.1 %2005: 20.9 %2006: 22.7 %2008: 21.8 %2009: 19.4 %2010: 18.3 %2011: 22.3 %2012: 21.4 %2013: 17.2 %2014: 24.8 %2015: 16.4 %2016: 16.6 %2017: 18.7 %2018: 17.2 %2019: 18.5 %2020: 15.9 %2021: 15.3 %2022: 16.6 %2023: 16.9 %2024: 19.4 %2025: 19.2 %

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

Analysis

In 2025, share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Eswatini stood at 19.2%.

That represents a change of down 0.7% on the previous year and up 17.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Eswatini peaked at 25.1% in 1989 and was at its lowest, 15.3%, in 2021.

That places Eswatini 23rd out of 194 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1980s 22.3% 20.4% 25.1% 5
1990s 21.3% 20.0% 23.5% 5
2000s 20.4% 17.3% 22.7% 9
2010s 19.1% 16.4% 24.8% 10
2020s 17.2% 15.3% 19.4% 6

Countries ranked near Eswatini

  1. 20 Kyrgyzstan 19.6% compare
  2. 21 Vanuatu 19.3% compare
  3. 22 Tajikistan 19.3% compare
  4. 24 Peru 19.2% compare
  5. 25 Syria 19.2% compare
  6. 26 South Africa 19.1% compare

See the full ranking of 194 places →

More economy & growth data for Eswatini

All data for Eswatini →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Eswatini?
Share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Eswatini was 19.2% in 2025, 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 Eswatini?
The highest recorded value was 25.1% in 1989.
What is the lowest share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education recorded in Eswatini?
The lowest recorded value was 15.3% in 2021.
How does Eswatini rank for share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education?
Eswatini ranks 23rd out of 194 countries with data for 2025.
Is share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education rising or falling in Eswatini?
Over the last ten years it is up 17.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Eswatini 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.