Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Gambia
Gambia: Government spending on education as a share of GDP was 2.8% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Gambia, 1985–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2023, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Gambia stood at 2.8%.
The figure is down 2.9% on the previous year and up 54.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Gambia peaked at 4.3% in 1985 and was at its lowest, 0.6%, in 2004.
Gambia ranks 160th of 199 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 33 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 3.6% | 3.0% | 4.3% | 3 |
| 1990s | 2.4% | 1.2% | 3.8% | 6 |
| 2000s | 1.2% | 0.6% | 2.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.4% | 1.8% | 2.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.9% | 2.8% | 3.0% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Gambia
More education data for Gambia
- Duration of pre-primary education 4 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 57.1% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 39.7% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 13 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 7 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 100.4% (2025)
- Primary education, teachers 13,495 (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 3.91 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 108.2% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government spending on education as a share of gdp in Gambia?
- Government spending on education as a share of gdp in Gambia was 2.8% in 2023, 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 Gambia?
- The highest recorded value was 4.3% in 1985.
- What is the lowest government spending on education as a share of gdp recorded in Gambia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.6% in 2004.
- How does Gambia rank for government spending on education as a share of gdp?
- Gambia ranks 160th out of 199 countries with data for 2023.
- Is government spending on education as a share of gdp rising or falling in Gambia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 54.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Gambia 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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CSV · JSON — 33 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.