Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Australia
Australia: Government spending on education as a share of GDP was 5.1% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Australia, 1937–2022
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2022, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Australia stood at 5.1%.
The figure is down 5.3% on the previous year.
Over the whole period, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Australia peaked at 6.0% 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.
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 | 5.9% | 5.9% | 6.0% | 2 |
| 1980s | 5.2% | 4.7% | 5.6% | 8 |
| 1990s | 5.0% | 4.7% | 5.5% | 5 |
| 2020s | 5.3% | 5.1% | 5.4% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More education data for Australia
- Duration of pre-primary education 2 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 64.2% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 17.7% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 5 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 99.6% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 105,469 (1999)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.64 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 99.7% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government spending on education as a share of gdp in Australia?
- Government spending on education as a share of gdp in Australia was 5.1% in 2022, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest government spending on education as a share of gdp recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 6.0% in 1978.
- What is the lowest government spending on education as a share of gdp recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.7% in 1937.
- How does Australia rank for government spending on education as a share of gdp?
- Australia ranks 63rd out of 199 countries with data for 2022.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Government spending on education as a share of GDP. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 20 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Total annual general government spending on all levels of education, expressed as a percentage of GDP.