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.
Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Colombia, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 1.8% | — |
| 1980 | 1.7% | -1.4% |
| 1981 | 2.6% | +50.2% |
| 1984 | 3.0% | +15.7% |
| 1985 | 2.7% | -9.6% |
| 1989 | 2.7% | -0.4% |
| 1998 | 3.9% | +45.1% |
| 1999 | 4.4% | +13.1% |
| 2000 | 3.5% | -20.9% |
| 2001 | 3.7% | +5.6% |
| 2002 | 4.3% | +15.1% |
| 2003 | 4.3% | +1.3% |
| 2004 | 4.1% | -5.7% |
| 2005 | 4.0% | -1.4% |
| 2006 | 3.9% | -2.6% |
| 2007 | 4.1% | +4.2% |
| 2008 | 3.9% | -3.5% |
| 2009 | 4.8% | +21.3% |
| 2010 | 4.8% | +1.2% |
| 2011 | 4.5% | -7.6% |
| 2012 | 4.4% | -2.1% |
| 2013 | 4.9% | +11.6% |
| 2014 | 4.6% | -5.1% |
| 2015 | 4.5% | -3.4% |
| 2016 | 4.5% | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 4.5% | +1.3% |
| 2018 | 4.4% | -1.9% |
| 2019 | 4.5% | +1.4% |
| 2020 | 5.3% | +16.6% |
Colombia compared with similar countries
- Colombia's 5.3% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 4.2%, 1.2× the median. (54 countries reporting)
- Colombia's 5.3% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 4.1%, 1.3× the median. (39 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Colombia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | +50.2% | 1.7% | 2.6% |
| 1998 | +45.1% | 2.7% | 3.9% |
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
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 190,940 (2022)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 234,939 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 963,182 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 937,684 (2022)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 4.85 million (2022)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 4.14 million (2022)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.2 % change on previous year (2022)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2022)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.08 units per person (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.