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

Malaysia: Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education was 14.1% in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
14.1%
Change on year
down 30.0%
World rank
76th
of 194 countries
All-time high
25.9%
in 2002
All-time low
14.0%
in 2008
Years of data
30
1992–2023

Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Malaysia, 1992–2023

01020301992200720231992: 19.1 %1993: 17.3 %1994: 19.9 %1995: 19.5 %1996: 22.8 %1997: 20.1 %1999: 21.2 %2000: 21.4 %2001: 24.3 %2002: 25.9 %2003: 24.5 %2004: 21 %2006: 16.7 %2007: 16.1 %2008: 14 %2009: 18.5 %2010: 18.4 %2011: 21 %2012: 19.9 %2013: 19.5 %2014: 19.8 %2015: 19.8 %2016: 20.8 %2017: 21.2 %2018: 19.6 %2019: 17.6 %2020: 15.6 %2021: 20.5 %2022: 20.1 %2023: 14.1 %

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

Analysis

In 2023, share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Malaysia stood at 14.1%.

That represents a change of down 30.0% on the previous year and down 27.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Malaysia peaked at 25.9% in 2002 and was at its lowest, 14.0%, in 2008.

That places Malaysia 76th out of 194 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 30 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 20.0% 17.3% 22.8% 7
2000s 20.3% 14.0% 25.9% 9
2010s 19.8% 17.6% 21.2% 10
2020s 17.6% 14.1% 20.5% 4

Countries ranked near Malaysia

  1. 73 Oman 14.2% compare
  2. 74 Denmark 14.2% compare
  3. 75 India 14.2% compare
  4. 77 Rwanda 13.9% compare
  5. 78 Kuwait 13.8% compare
  6. 79 Cameroon 13.8% compare

See the full ranking of 194 places →

More economy & growth data for Malaysia

All data for Malaysia →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Malaysia?
Share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Malaysia was 14.1% in 2023, 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 Malaysia?
The highest recorded value was 25.9% in 2002.
What is the lowest share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education recorded in Malaysia?
The lowest recorded value was 14.0% in 2008.
How does Malaysia rank for share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education?
Malaysia ranks 76th out of 194 countries with data for 2023.
Is share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education rising or falling in Malaysia?
Over the last ten years it is down 27.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Malaysia 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.