Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo: Government spending on education as a share of GDP was 2.8% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Democratic Republic of Congo, 1980–2022
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Democratic Republic of Congo recorded 2.8% for government spending on education as a share of gdp in 2022. That is the highest value across all 18 years on record.
The figure is up 6.9% on the previous year and up 37.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 2.8% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 0.7%, in 1984.
That places Democratic Republic of Congo 157th out of 199 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 18 years of available data.
Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Democratic Republic of Congo, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 2.3% | — |
| 1981 | 2.5% | +11.8% |
| 1982 | 2.8% | +10.4% |
| 1983 | 1.3% | -53.6% |
| 1984 | 0.7% | -45.8% |
| 1985 | 0.8% | +17.3% |
| 1986 | 0.7% | -12.5% |
| 1987 | 0.9% | +19.2% |
| 1988 | 0.8% | -5.4% |
| 2010 | 1.5% | +87.2% |
| 2013 | 2.1% | +35.2% |
| 2014 | 2.0% | -5.4% |
| 2015 | 2.2% | +11.2% |
| 2016 | 2.1% | -2.4% |
| 2017 | 1.5% | -31.3% |
| 2020 | 2.6% | +80.3% |
| 2021 | 2.7% | +1.4% |
| 2022 | 2.8% | +6.9% |
Democratic Republic of Congo compared with similar countries
- Democratic Republic of Congo's 2.8% is above the median for low income countries, which is 2.8%, 1.0× the median. (23 countries reporting)
- Democratic Republic of Congo's 2.8% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 3.2%, 89% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 1.4% | 0.7% | 2.8% | 9 |
| 2010s | 1.9% | 1.5% | 2.2% | 6 |
| 2020s | 2.7% | 2.6% | 2.8% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo
More education data for Democratic Republic of Congo
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 621,578 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 1.99 million (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 410,532 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 427,300 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 7.93 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 21.15 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 7.35 % change on previous year (2021)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0003 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1999 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government spending on education as a share of gdp in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Government spending on education as a share of gdp in Democratic Republic of Congo was 2.8% 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 Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 2.8% in 2022.
- What is the lowest government spending on education as a share of gdp recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.7% in 1984.
- How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for government spending on education as a share of gdp?
- Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 157th out of 199 countries with data for 2022.
- Is government spending on education as a share of gdp rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is up 37.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo 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.