Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Colombia
Colombia: Government spending on education as a share of GDP was 5.3% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Colombia, 1979–2020
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2020, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Colombia stood at 5.3%. That is the highest value across all 29 years on record.
The figure is up 16.6% on the previous year and up 8.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Colombia peaked at 5.3% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 1.7%, in 1980.
Colombia ranks 52nd of 199 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 29 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1.8% | 1.8% | 1.8% | 1 |
| 1980s | 2.6% | 1.7% | 3.0% | 5 |
| 1990s | 4.2% | 3.9% | 4.4% | 2 |
| 2000s | 4.1% | 3.5% | 4.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.6% | 4.4% | 4.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.3% | 5.3% | 5.3% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Colombia
More education data for Colombia
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 69.8% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 20.0% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 11 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 104.8% (2022)
- Primary education, teachers 180,781 (2022)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.63 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 103.4% (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government spending on education as a share of gdp in Colombia?
- Government spending on education as a share of gdp in Colombia was 5.3% in 2020, 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 Colombia?
- The highest recorded value was 5.3% in 2020.
- What is the lowest government spending on education as a share of gdp recorded in Colombia?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.7% in 1980.
- How does Colombia rank for government spending on education as a share of gdp?
- Colombia ranks 52nd out of 199 countries with data for 2020.
- Is government spending on education as a share of gdp rising or falling in Colombia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Colombia 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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About this data
Total annual general government spending on all levels of education, expressed as a percentage of GDP.