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

Netherlands: Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education was 12.0% in 2022. ▲ Rising

Latest (2022)
12.0%
Change on year
up 2.2%
World rank
113th
of 194 countries
All-time high
12.4%
in 2018
All-time low
8.7%
in 1996
Years of data
39
1981–2022

Share of GDP spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Netherlands, 1981–2022

02.557.51012.51981200120221981: 12.1 %1982: 11.4 %1983: 10.6 %1984: 9.9 %1985: 10.5 %1986: 10.8 %1987: 11.3 %1988: 10.6 %1990: 11 %1991: 11.1 %1993: 9.7 %1994: 9.6 %1995: 9.7 %1996: 8.7 %1998: 10.2 %1999: 10.2 %2000: 10.6 %2001: 10.6 %2002: 10.7 %2003: 11 %2004: 11.3 %2005: 11.7 %2006: 11.4 %2007: 11.2 %2008: 11.3 %2009: 11.1 %2010: 11.2 %2011: 11.3 %2012: 11.3 %2013: 11.5 %2014: 11.6 %2015: 11.7 %2016: 12.3 %2017: 11.9 %2018: 12.4 %2019: 12 %2020: 11.1 %2021: 11.7 %2022: 12 %

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

Analysis

In 2022, share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Netherlands stood at 12.0%.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.2% on the previous year and up 6.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Netherlands peaked at 12.4% in 2018 and was at its lowest, 8.7%, in 1996.

That places Netherlands 113th out of 194 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 39 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1980s 10.9% 9.9% 12.1% 8
1990s 10.0% 8.7% 11.1% 8
2000s 11.1% 10.6% 11.7% 10
2010s 11.7% 11.2% 12.4% 10
2020s 11.6% 11.1% 12.0% 3

Countries ranked near Netherlands

  1. 110 Belgium 12.0% compare
  2. 111 Singapore 12.0% compare
  3. 112 Bulgaria 12.0% compare
  4. 114 Azerbaijan 11.9% compare
  5. 115 China 11.9% compare
  6. 116 Bangladesh 11.9% compare

See the full ranking of 194 places →

More economy & growth data for Netherlands

All data for Netherlands →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Netherlands?
Share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education in Netherlands was 12.0% in 2022, 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 Netherlands?
The highest recorded value was 12.4% in 2018.
What is the lowest share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education recorded in Netherlands?
The lowest recorded value was 8.7% in 1996.
How does Netherlands rank for share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education?
Netherlands ranks 113th out of 194 countries with data for 2022.
Is share of gdp spent on education vs. share of government spending assigned to education rising or falling in Netherlands?
Over the last ten years it is up 6.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Netherlands 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 — 39 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.