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

Malawi: Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education was 16.0% in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
16.0%
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
48th
of 194 countries
All-time high
21.8%
in 2015
All-time low
12.5%
in 2010
Years of data
14
2003–2024

Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Malawi, 2003–2024

051015202003201320242003: 16.5 %2010: 12.5 %2011: 15 %2012: 13.6 %2013: 20.5 %2014: 16.6 %2015: 21.8 %2016: 17.2 %2017: 14.3 %2018: 15.8 %2020: 20.2 %2021: 17.6 %2023: 16 %2024: 16 %

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 Malawi is 16.0%, measured in 2024.

The figure is down 3.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Malawi peaked at 21.8% in 2015 and was at its lowest, 12.5%, in 2010.

Malawi ranks 48th of 194 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 14 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 16.5% 16.5% 16.5% 1
2010s 16.4% 12.5% 21.8% 9
2020s 17.4% 16.0% 20.2% 4

Countries ranked near Malawi

  1. 45 Panama 16.3% compare
  2. 46 Guinea-Bissau 16.2% compare
  3. 47 Israel 16.1% compare
  4. 49 Moldova 16.0% compare
  5. 50 Puerto Rico 16.0% compare
  6. 51 El Salvador 15.9% compare

See the full ranking of 194 places →

More economy & growth data for Malawi

All data for Malawi →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Malawi?
Share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Malawi was 16.0% 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 Malawi?
The highest recorded value was 21.8% in 2015.
What is the lowest share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education recorded in Malawi?
The lowest recorded value was 12.5% in 2010.
How does Malawi rank for share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education?
Malawi ranks 48th 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 Malawi?
Over the last ten years it is down 3.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Malawi 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 — 14 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.