Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Japan
Japan: Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education was 10.0% in 1998. ▼ Falling
Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Japan, 1981–1998
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Japan is 10.0%, measured in 1998. That is the lowest value across all 10 years on record.
That represents a change of down 3.9% on the previous year and down 44.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Japan peaked at 18.1% in 1987 and was at its lowest, 10.0%, in 1998.
That places Japan 150th out of 194 countries with data for 1998, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 10 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 16.7% | 14.9% | 18.1% | 6 |
| 1990s | 10.6% | 10.0% | 11.1% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Japan
More economy & growth data for Japan
- Exports of goods and services 928.87 billion constant 2015 US$ (2024)
- Gross national expenditure 4.23 trillion current US$ (2024)
- Gross national expenditure 639.89 trillion current LCU (2024)
- Gross national expenditure 4.69 trillion constant 2015 US$ (2024)
- Industry (including construction), value added 26.8% (2024)
- Gross national expenditure 100.9% (2024)
- Exports of goods and services 920.96 billion current US$ (2024)
- Exports of goods and services 139.40 trillion current LCU (2024)
- Gross fixed capital formation 1.25 trillion constant 2015 US$ (2024)
- Gross fixed capital formation 176.40 trillion current LCU (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Japan?
- Share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Japan was 10.0% in 1998, 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 Japan?
- The highest recorded value was 18.1% in 1987.
- What is the lowest share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education recorded in Japan?
- The lowest recorded value was 10.0% in 1998.
- How does Japan rank for share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education?
- Japan ranks 150th out of 194 countries with data for 1998.
- Is share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education rising or falling in Japan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 44.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Japan 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.