Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Ireland
Ireland: Government spending on education as a share of GDP was 2.9% in 2021. ▼ Falling
Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Ireland, 1937–2021
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2021, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Ireland stood at 2.9%. That is the lowest value across all 51 years on record.
That represents a change of down 9.0% on the previous year and down 49.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Ireland peaked at 6.2% in 2009 and was at its lowest, 2.9%, in 2021.
Ireland ranks 152nd of 199 regions on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 51 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 3.3% | 3.3% | 3.3% | 1 |
| 1960s | 3.2% | 3.2% | 3.2% | 1 |
| 1970s | 4.8% | 4.3% | 5.3% | 8 |
| 1980s | 5.3% | 4.7% | 5.7% | 10 |
| 1990s | 4.7% | 4.1% | 5.2% | 9 |
| 2000s | 4.6% | 4.1% | 6.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.5% | 3.2% | 6.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.0% | 2.9% | 3.2% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
- 149 Madagascar 3.0% compare
- 150 Turks and Caicos Islands 2.9% compare
- 151 Ghana 2.9% compare
- 153 San Marino 2.9% compare
- 154 Vietnam 2.9% compare
- 155 Nicaragua 2.9% compare
More education data for Ireland
- Duration of pre-primary education 2 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 65.7% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 18.1% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 13 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 5 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 96.5% (2022)
- Primary education, teachers 42,162 (2023)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.6 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 97.6% (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government spending on education as a share of gdp in Ireland?
- Government spending on education as a share of gdp in Ireland was 2.9% in 2021, 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 Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 6.2% in 2009.
- What is the lowest government spending on education as a share of gdp recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.9% in 2021.
- How does Ireland rank for government spending on education as a share of gdp?
- Ireland ranks 152nd out of 199 regions with data for 2021.
- Is government spending on education as a share of gdp rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 49.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ireland 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 — 51 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.