Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Canada
Canada: Government spending on education as a share of GDP was 4.8% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Canada, 1960–2022
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 Canada stood at 4.8%.
That represents a change of up 2.0% on the previous year and down 7.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Canada peaked at 7.7% in 1971 and was at its lowest, 4.6%, in 2013.
Canada ranks 70th of 199 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 47 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 4.6% | 4.6% | 4.6% | 1 |
| 1970s | 7.0% | 6.4% | 7.7% | 9 |
| 1980s | 6.4% | 6.0% | 6.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 6.4% | 5.5% | 7.7% | 8 |
| 2000s | 4.9% | 4.6% | 5.4% | 7 |
| 2010s | 4.9% | 4.6% | 5.4% | 9 |
| 2020s | 4.8% | 4.7% | 4.9% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Canada
- 67 Chile 4.9% compare
- 68 Kazakhstan 4.9% compare
- 69 Switzerland 4.9% compare
- 71 Uruguay 4.8% compare
- 72 Cyprus 4.7% compare
More education data for Canada
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 64.8% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 15.0% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 95.0% (2023)
- Primary education, teachers 141,045 (2000)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.34 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 95.1% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government spending on education as a share of gdp in Canada?
- Government spending on education as a share of gdp in Canada was 4.8% 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 Canada?
- The highest recorded value was 7.7% in 1971.
- What is the lowest government spending on education as a share of gdp recorded in Canada?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.6% in 2013.
- How does Canada rank for government spending on education as a share of gdp?
- Canada ranks 70th out of 199 countries with data for 2022.
- Is government spending on education as a share of gdp rising or falling in Canada?
- Over the last ten years it is down 7.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Canada 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 — 47 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.