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

Ethiopia: Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education was 16.7% in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
16.7%
Change on year
down 8.9%
World rank
42nd
of 194 countries
All-time high
30.5%
in 2012
All-time low
9.7%
in 1983
Years of data
32
1980–2024

Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Ethiopia, 1980–2024

10152025301980200220241980: 12.4 %1981: 12.5 %1982: 12.2 %1983: 9.7 %1984: 11.8 %1985: 10.1 %1986: 10.3 %1993: 13.3 %1996: 13 %1997: 14.9 %2000: 14.9 %2001: 14.5 %2002: 16.2 %2006: 24 %2007: 24.7 %2008: 26.4 %2009: 23.6 %2010: 26.3 %2011: 29.7 %2012: 30.5 %2013: 27 %2014: 25.9 %2015: 22.3 %2016: 23 %2017: 23.3 %2018: 23 %2019: 20.9 %2020: 22.4 %2021: 23.6 %2022: 23 %2023: 18.3 %2024: 16.7 %

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

Analysis

Ethiopia recorded 16.7% for share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in 2024.

That represents a change of down 8.9% on the previous year and down 35.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Ethiopia peaked at 30.5% in 2012 and was at its lowest, 9.7%, in 1983.

That places Ethiopia 42nd out of 194 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 32 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1980s 11.3% 9.7% 12.5% 7
1990s 13.7% 13.0% 14.9% 3
2000s 20.6% 14.5% 26.4% 7
2010s 25.2% 20.9% 30.5% 10
2020s 20.8% 16.7% 23.6% 5

Countries ranked near Ethiopia

  1. 39 Guatemala 17.3% compare
  2. 40 Cuba 17.0% compare
  3. 41 Tuvalu 16.8% compare
  4. 43 Chad 16.5% compare
  5. 44 Curacao 16.4% compare
  6. 45 Panama 16.3% compare

See the full ranking of 194 places →

More economy & growth data for Ethiopia

All data for Ethiopia →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Ethiopia?
Share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Ethiopia was 16.7% in 2024, 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 Ethiopia?
The highest recorded value was 30.5% in 2012.
What is the lowest share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education recorded in Ethiopia?
The lowest recorded value was 9.7% in 1983.
How does Ethiopia rank for share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education?
Ethiopia ranks 42nd out of 194 countries with data for 2024.
Is share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education rising or falling in Ethiopia?
Over the last ten years it is down 35.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Ethiopia 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.