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

Laos: Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education was 8.2% in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
8.2%
Change on year
down 15.9%
World rank
174th
of 194 countries
All-time high
18.1%
in 2007
All-time low
7.2%
in 2010
Years of data
24
2000–2024

Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Laos, 2000–2024

051015202000201220242000: 7.3 %2001: 9.9 %2002: 15.3 %2004: 15.9 %2005: 14.1 %2006: 17.8 %2007: 18.1 %2008: 13 %2009: 7.5 %2010: 7.2 %2011: 8.3 %2012: 7.4 %2013: 13.3 %2014: 11.8 %2015: 10.5 %2016: 12.9 %2017: 11.4 %2018: 11.2 %2019: 10.8 %2020: 10.7 %2021: 11.5 %2022: 9.8 %2023: 9.8 %2024: 8.2 %

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 Laos is 8.2%, measured in 2024.

That represents a change of down 15.9% on the previous year and down 29.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Laos peaked at 18.1% in 2007 and was at its lowest, 7.2%, in 2010.

That places Laos 174th out of 194 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 13.2% 7.3% 18.1% 9
2010s 10.5% 7.2% 13.3% 10
2020s 10.0% 8.2% 11.5% 5

Countries ranked near Laos

  1. 171 Luxembourg 8.5% compare
  2. 172 Serbia 8.4% compare
  3. 173 Bahrain 8.3% compare
  4. 175 Somalia 8.1% compare
  5. 176 Hungary 7.8% compare
  6. 177 Bermuda 7.8% compare

See the full ranking of 194 places →

More economy & growth data for Laos

All data for Laos →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Laos?
Share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Laos was 8.2% 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 Laos?
The highest recorded value was 18.1% in 2007.
What is the lowest share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education recorded in Laos?
The lowest recorded value was 7.2% in 2010.
How does Laos rank for share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education?
Laos ranks 174th 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 Laos?
Over the last ten years it is down 29.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Laos 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 — 24 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.