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

Ghana: Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education was 13.2% in 2022. ▲ Rising

Latest (2022)
13.2%
Change on year
up 8.3%
World rank
87th
of 194 countries
All-time high
34.3%
in 1986
All-time low
7.6%
in 1980
Years of data
27
1980–2022

Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Ghana, 1980–2022

1020301980200120221980: 7.6 %1981: 7.7 %1982: 13.8 %1986: 34.3 %1987: 24.7 %1988: 23.9 %1999: 14.9 %2001: 15.7 %2004: 22.4 %2005: 23.4 %2006: 24.2 %2007: 22.3 %2008: 24 %2009: 22.5 %2010: 20.7 %2011: 30.6 %2012: 26.6 %2013: 21.2 %2014: 21 %2015: 23.8 %2016: 22.1 %2017: 20.1 %2018: 18.6 %2019: 14.3 %2020: 13.6 %2021: 12.2 %2022: 13.2 %

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

Analysis

Ghana recorded 13.2% for share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in 2022.

That represents a change of up 8.3% on the previous year and down 50.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Ghana peaked at 34.3% in 1986 and was at its lowest, 7.6%, in 1980.

Ghana ranks 87th of 194 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 27 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1980s 18.7% 7.6% 34.3% 6
1990s 14.9% 14.9% 14.9% 1
2000s 22.1% 15.7% 24.2% 7
2010s 21.9% 14.3% 30.6% 10
2020s 13.0% 12.2% 13.6% 3

Countries ranked near Ghana

  1. 84 Cape Verde 13.4% compare
  2. 85 Tanzania 13.4% compare
  3. 86 Argentina 13.2% compare
  4. 88 Haiti 13.2% compare
  5. 89 Colombia 13.2% compare
  6. 90 Democratic Republic of Congo 13.1% compare

See the full ranking of 194 places →

More economy & growth data for Ghana

All data for Ghana →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Ghana?
Share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Ghana was 13.2% 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 Ghana?
The highest recorded value was 34.3% in 1986.
What is the lowest share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education recorded in Ghana?
The lowest recorded value was 7.6% in 1980.
How does Ghana rank for share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education?
Ghana ranks 87th out of 194 countries with data for 2022.
Is share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education rising or falling in Ghana?
Over the last ten years it is down 50.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Ghana 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.