What is the difference in government expenditure per student, primary between European Union and United Kingdom?

3.9%, with United Kingdom ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for European Union and United Kingdom?

18 years are reported by both, from 1998 to 2016.

Where does this data come from?

Stat Bulk Data Download Service, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as Government expenditure per student, primary (% of GDP per capita). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

European Union vs United Kingdom: Government expenditure per student, primary

European Union

20.3%

in 2016

United Kingdom

24.2%

in 2016

European Union rank

9th

United Kingdom rank

11th

Government expenditure per student, primary over time

European Union
United Kingdom

How they compare

United Kingdom currently reports 24.2% against 20.3% in European Union, a difference of 3.9%.

That makes United Kingdom's figure about 1.2 times European Union's.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 18 shared years of data; in 1998 it was European Union ahead.

European Union ranks 9th and United Kingdom ranks 11th of 21 groups.

Across the 3 decades both report, European Union averaged higher in 2 and United Kingdom in 1.

Head to head by decade

Decade	European Union	United Kingdom	Difference	Ahead
1990s	17.7%	12.4%	5.3%	European Union
2000s	19.9%	17.4%	2.6%	European Union
2010s	21.2%	24.1%	3.0%	United Kingdom

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher government expenditure per student, primary, European Union or United Kingdom?: United Kingdom, at 24.2% against 20.3% in European Union as of 2016.
What is the difference in government expenditure per student, primary between European Union and United Kingdom?: 3.9%, with United Kingdom ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for European Union and United Kingdom?: 18 years are reported by both, from 1998 to 2016.
How do European Union and United Kingdom rank globally for government expenditure per student, primary?: European Union ranks 9th and United Kingdom ranks 11th of 21 groups.
Where does this data come from?: Stat Bulk Data Download Service, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as Government expenditure per student, primary (% of GDP per capita). 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

European Union vs United Kingdom: Government expenditure per student, primary. Statizoid, drawing on Stat Bulk Data Download Service, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Retrieved 17 September 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/compare/government-expenditure-per-student-primary-percent-of-gdp-per-capita/european-union/united-kingdom/

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-per-student-primary-percent-of-gdp-per-capita/european-union/united-kingdom/">European Union vs United Kingdom: Government expenditure per student, primary</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Government expenditure per student, primary (% of GDP per capita)
Unit: % of GDP per capita
Source: Stat Bulk Data Download Service, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 143 places, 1,741 data points, 1995–2018
Last refreshed: 17 September 2026

Government expenditure per student is the average general government expenditure (current, capital, and transfers) per student in the given level of education, expressed as a percentage of GDP per capita.