Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Finland
Finland: Government spending on education as a share of GDP was 6.4% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Finland, 1970–2022
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
The most recent figure for government spending on education as a share of gdp in Finland is 6.4%, measured in 2022.
The figure is down 3.2% on the previous year and down 11.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Finland peaked at 7.5% in 1993 and was at its lowest, 4.5%, in 1974.
Finland ranks 23rd of 199 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 49 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 5.0% | 4.5% | 5.4% | 8 |
| 1980s | 4.9% | 4.7% | 5.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 6.5% | 5.3% | 7.5% | 8 |
| 2000s | 6.0% | 5.7% | 6.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 6.8% | 6.3% | 7.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.5% | 6.4% | 6.7% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Finland
More education data for Finland
- Duration of pre-primary education 4 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 61.5% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 14.3% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 13 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 7 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 98.9% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 30,824 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.29 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 98.8% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government spending on education as a share of gdp in Finland?
- Government spending on education as a share of gdp in Finland was 6.4% 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 Finland?
- The highest recorded value was 7.5% in 1993.
- What is the lowest government spending on education as a share of gdp recorded in Finland?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.5% in 1974.
- How does Finland rank for government spending on education as a share of gdp?
- Finland ranks 23rd out of 199 countries with data for 2022.
- Is government spending on education as a share of gdp rising or falling in Finland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Finland 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 — 49 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.