Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Macao
Macao: Government spending on education as a share of GDP was 3.5% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Macao, 1998–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Macao recorded 3.5% for government spending on education as a share of gdp in 2023.
The figure is down 42.2% on the previous year and up 70.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Macao peaked at 6.4% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 2.0%, in 2007.
Macao ranks 127th of 199 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Macao, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 3.4% | — |
| 1999 | 3.3% | -0.4% |
| 2000 | 3.3% | -0.7% |
| 2001 | 2.7% | -18.1% |
| 2002 | 2.8% | +4.7% |
| 2003 | 2.8% | -2.2% |
| 2004 | 2.2% | -19.7% |
| 2005 | 2.3% | +2.0% |
| 2006 | 2.2% | -3.7% |
| 2007 | 2.0% | -6.9% |
| 2008 | 2.2% | +7.5% |
| 2009 | 2.5% | +15.3% |
| 2010 | 2.6% | +3.4% |
| 2011 | 2.7% | +2.2% |
| 2012 | 3.3% | +24.3% |
| 2013 | 2.1% | -38.3% |
| 2014 | 2.0% | -0.1% |
| 2015 | 3.0% | +46.6% |
| 2016 | 3.1% | +3.2% |
| 2017 | 2.7% | -12.6% |
| 2018 | 2.7% | +0.9% |
| 2019 | 3.1% | +12.1% |
| 2020 | 6.4% | +108.4% |
| 2021 | 5.1% | -20.1% |
| 2022 | 6.1% | +18.6% |
| 2023 | 3.5% | -42.2% |
Macao compared with similar countries
- Macao's 3.5% is below the median for high income countries, which is 4.4%, 80% of the median. (72 countries reporting)
- Macao's 3.5% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 4.2%, 82% of the median. (31 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Macao 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +108.4% | 3.1% | 6.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 3.3% | 3.3% | 3.4% | 2 |
| 2000s | 2.5% | 2.0% | 3.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.7% | 2.0% | 3.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.3% | 3.5% | 6.4% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Macao
More education data for Macao
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 8,379 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 239 (2024)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 2,938 (2024)
- Theoretical duration of pre-primary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Enrolment in primary education, male (number), per capita 0.0291 units per person (2024)
- Enrolment in secondary education, male (number), annual growth rate 3.99 % change on previous year (2024)
- Enrolment in primary education, male (number), annual growth rate 1.38 % change on previous year (2024)
- Start of the academic school year (pre-primary to post-secondary non) 0.0494 % change on previous year (2025)
- Enrolment in primary education, male (number), gaps filled 20,014 (2024)
- Enrolment in primary education, female (number), per capita 0.0267 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government spending on education as a share of gdp in Macao?
- Government spending on education as a share of gdp in Macao was 3.5% 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 Macao?
- The highest recorded value was 6.4% in 2020.
- What is the lowest government spending on education as a share of gdp recorded in Macao?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.0% in 2007.
- How does Macao rank for government spending on education as a share of gdp?
- Macao ranks 127th out of 199 countries with data for 2023.
- Is government spending on education as a share of gdp rising or falling in Macao?
- Over the last ten years it is up 70.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Macao 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 — 26 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.