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.
Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Canada, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 4.6% | — |
| 1971 | 7.7% | +67.1% |
| 1972 | 7.6% | -1.2% |
| 1973 | 7.0% | -7.6% |
| 1974 | 6.7% | -4.9% |
| 1975 | 6.4% | -3.7% |
| 1976 | 6.7% | +4.3% |
| 1977 | 6.7% | +0.2% |
| 1978 | 7.1% | +5.4% |
| 1979 | 6.7% | -5.4% |
| 1980 | 6.5% | -3.4% |
| 1981 | 6.4% | -0.8% |
| 1982 | 6.5% | +1.4% |
| 1983 | 6.9% | +5.5% |
| 1984 | 6.6% | -3.5% |
| 1985 | 6.2% | -6.5% |
| 1986 | 6.0% | -2.7% |
| 1987 | 6.3% | +4.6% |
| 1988 | 6.2% | -2.4% |
| 1989 | 6.1% | -1.2% |
| 1990 | 6.0% | -1.7% |
| 1991 | 6.9% | +14.9% |
| 1992 | 6.7% | -1.6% |
| 1993 | 7.7% | +13.8% |
| 1994 | 6.7% | -13.3% |
| 1995 | 6.3% | -5.3% |
| 1998 | 5.5% | -12.9% |
| 1999 | 5.5% | +0.7% |
| 2000 | 5.4% | -1.9% |
| 2001 | 5.0% | -8.7% |
| 2002 | 5.0% | +0.8% |
| 2005 | 4.8% | -4.5% |
| 2007 | 4.8% | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 4.6% | -2.9% |
| 2009 | 4.8% | +4.6% |
| 2010 | 5.4% | +10.7% |
| 2011 | 5.3% | -1.8% |
| 2013 | 4.6% | -12.8% |
| 2014 | 4.8% | +5.5% |
| 2015 | 4.7% | -2.2% |
| 2016 | 4.8% | +1.6% |
| 2017 | 5.0% | +3.0% |
| 2018 | 4.9% | -1.4% |
| 2019 | 4.8% | -2.4% |
| 2020 | 4.9% | +2.4% |
| 2021 | 4.7% | -2.9% |
| 2022 | 4.8% | +2.0% |
Canada compared with similar countries
- Canada's 4.8% is above the median for high income countries, which is 4.4%, 1.1× the median. (72 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Canada 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | +67.1% | 4.6% | 7.7% |
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
More education data for Canada
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 133,275 (1996)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 0 (2011)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 291,075 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 273,465 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.70 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.43 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 1.83 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0607 units per person (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.
Download this data
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.