Education spending in Australia
Australia: Education spending was 5.06 in 2022. ▲ Rising
Education spending in Australia, 1937–2022
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2022, education spending in Australia stood at 5.06.
The figure is down 5.3% on the previous year.
Over the whole period, education spending in Australia peaked at 6 in 1978 and was at its lowest, 0.7, in 1937.
Australia ranks 63rd of 199 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 20 years of available data.
Education spending in Australia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1937 | 0.7 | — |
| 1960 | 1.4 | +100.0% |
| 1978 | 6 | +328.6% |
| 1979 | 5.89 | -1.9% |
| 1980 | 5.65 | -4.1% |
| 1982 | 5.47 | -3.1% |
| 1983 | 5.36 | -2.0% |
| 1985 | 5.4 | +0.6% |
| 1986 | 5.27 | -2.4% |
| 1987 | 5.06 | -4.0% |
| 1988 | 4.91 | -3.0% |
| 1989 | 4.74 | -3.4% |
| 1990 | 4.67 | -1.5% |
| 1991 | 4.78 | +2.5% |
| 1992 | 4.68 | -2.1% |
| 1993 | 5.51 | +17.6% |
| 1994 | 5.24 | -4.7% |
| 2020 | 5.39 | +2.7% |
| 2021 | 5.34 | -0.8% |
| 2022 | 5.06 | -5.3% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's 5.06 is above the median for high income countries, which is 4.4, 1.1× the median. (72 countries reporting)
- Australia's 5.06 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 4.25, 1.2× the median. (31 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Education spending in Australia changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | +328.6% | 1.4 | 6 |
| 1960 | +100.0% | 0.7 | 1.4 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1 |
| 1960s | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1 |
| 1970s | 5.94 | 5.89 | 6 | 2 |
| 1980s | 5.23 | 4.74 | 5.65 | 8 |
| 1990s | 4.98 | 4.67 | 5.51 | 5 |
| 2020s | 5.26 | 5.06 | 5.39 | 3 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More education data for Australia
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 99.9 (2023)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 99.88 (2024)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 104,110 (1992)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 316,638 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 292,593 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.65 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.27 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 0.4362 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is education spending in Australia?
- Education spending in Australia was 5.06 in 2022, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest education spending recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 6 in 1978.
- What is the lowest education spending recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.7 in 1937.
- How does Australia rank for education spending?
- Australia ranks 63rd out of 199 countries with data for 2022.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Education spending. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 20 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).