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

Jamaica: Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education was 17.9% in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
17.9%
Change on year
up 5.5%
World rank
35th
of 194 countries
All-time high
21.8%
in 2014
All-time low
11.7%
in 2004
Years of data
29
1991–2024

Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Jamaica, 1991–2024

051015201991200720241991: 16.4 %1992: 12.8 %1993: 12.8 %1994: 18.4 %1995: 15.4 %1996: 15.5 %1997: 15.4 %2000: 16.8 %2001: 20 %2002: 18.4 %2003: 13.4 %2004: 11.7 %2005: 14.3 %2007: 17.2 %2008: 19.1 %2009: 17.6 %2010: 16.1 %2011: 18.6 %2012: 18.8 %2013: 20.6 %2014: 21.8 %2015: 20.1 %2016: 19.1 %2017: 18.4 %2018: 18.6 %2019: 17.3 %2021: 17.4 %2022: 16.9 %2024: 17.9 %

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

Analysis

Jamaica recorded 17.9% for share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in 2024.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 5.5% on the previous year and down 18.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Jamaica peaked at 21.8% in 2014 and was at its lowest, 11.7%, in 2004.

That places Jamaica 35th out of 194 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 29 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 15.2% 12.8% 18.4% 7
2000s 16.5% 11.7% 20.0% 9
2010s 18.9% 16.1% 21.8% 10
2020s 17.4% 16.9% 17.9% 3

Countries ranked near Jamaica

  1. 32 Benin 18.0% compare
  2. 33 Madagascar 18.0% compare
  3. 34 Zimbabwe 17.9% compare
  4. 36 Mali 17.8% compare
  5. 37 Cote d'Ivoire 17.6% compare
  6. 38 Tunisia 17.3% compare

See the full ranking of 194 places →

More economy & growth data for Jamaica

All data for Jamaica →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Jamaica?
Share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Jamaica was 17.9% 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 Jamaica?
The highest recorded value was 21.8% in 2014.
What is the lowest share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education recorded in Jamaica?
The lowest recorded value was 11.7% in 2004.
How does Jamaica rank for share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education?
Jamaica ranks 35th 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 Jamaica?
Over the last ten years it is down 18.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Jamaica 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 — 29 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

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.