Which has higher government expenditure on education, total, Korea or United States of America?

United States of America, at 5.4% against 5.4% in Korea as of 2021.

What is the difference in government expenditure on education, total between Korea and United States of America?

0.0%, with United States of America ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Korea and United States of America?

7 years are reported by both, from 2015 to 2021.

Where does this data come from?

Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Korea vs United States of America: Government expenditure on education, total

Korea

5.4%

in 2022

United States of America

5.4%

in 2021

Korea rank

43rd

United States of America rank

42nd

Government expenditure on education, total over time

Korea
United States of America

How they compare

United States of America currently reports 5.4% against 5.4% in Korea, a difference of 0.0%.

Across all 7 years both countries report, United States of America has been ahead every year.

Korea ranks 43rd and United States of America ranks 42nd of 196 countries.

United States of America has averaged higher in every one of the 2 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Korea	United States of America	Difference	Ahead
2010s	4.2%	4.9%	0.7%	United States of America
2020s	4.5%	5.4%	0.9%	United States of America

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher government expenditure on education, total, Korea or United States of America?: United States of America, at 5.4% against 5.4% in Korea as of 2021.
What is the difference in government expenditure on education, total between Korea and United States of America?: 0.0%, with United States of America ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Korea and United States of America?: 7 years are reported by both, from 2015 to 2021.
How do Korea and United States of America rank globally for government expenditure on education, total?: Korea ranks 43rd and United States of America ranks 42nd of 196 countries.
Where does this data come from?: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Korea vs United States of America: Government expenditure on education, total. Statizoid, drawing on Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Retrieved 15 September 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/compare/government-expenditure-on-education-total-percent-of-gdp/korea-rep/united-states/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://education.statizoid.com/compare/government-expenditure-on-education-total-percent-of-gdp/korea-rep/united-states/">Korea vs United States of America: Government expenditure on education, total</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP)
Unit: % of GDP
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 242 places, 6,340 data points, 1970–2025
Last refreshed: 03 September 2026

General government expenditure on education (current, capital, and transfers) is expressed as a percentage of GDP. It includes expenditure funded by transfers from international sources to government. General government usually refers to local, regional and central governments.