Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Mauritius
Mauritius: Government spending on education as a share of GDP was 4.2% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Mauritius, 1971–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Mauritius recorded 4.2% for government spending on education as a share of gdp in 2024.
That represents a change of down 7.2% on the previous year and down 11.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Mauritius peaked at 5.5% in 1978 and was at its lowest, 2.5%, in 1975.
Mauritius ranks 97th of 199 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 43 years of available data.
Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Mauritius, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 3.1% | — |
| 1972 | 3.1% | -1.3% |
| 1973 | 2.8% | -9.4% |
| 1975 | 2.5% | -9.4% |
| 1977 | 4.4% | +73.9% |
| 1978 | 5.5% | +25.3% |
| 1981 | 5.0% | -9.2% |
| 1982 | 4.5% | -8.9% |
| 1983 | 4.4% | -3.3% |
| 1984 | 4.0% | -8.2% |
| 1985 | 3.9% | -3.0% |
| 1986 | 3.4% | -12.1% |
| 1987 | 3.0% | -12.2% |
| 1988 | 3.1% | +2.4% |
| 1989 | 3.5% | +12.3% |
| 1990 | 3.1% | -9.8% |
| 1991 | 3.5% | +10.7% |
| 1999 | 3.9% | +12.2% |
| 2000 | 3.7% | -4.3% |
| 2001 | 3.1% | -17.4% |
| 2002 | 3.0% | -1.7% |
| 2003 | 4.4% | +44.3% |
| 2004 | 4.3% | -2.3% |
| 2005 | 4.0% | -5.4% |
| 2006 | 3.6% | -9.3% |
| 2007 | 3.2% | -12.7% |
| 2008 | 3.1% | -3.8% |
| 2009 | 3.0% | -0.5% |
| 2010 | 3.6% | +16.5% |
| 2011 | 3.3% | -6.2% |
| 2012 | 3.4% | +2.6% |
| 2013 | 3.6% | +4.4% |
| 2014 | 4.8% | +35.0% |
| 2015 | 4.8% | -1.2% |
| 2016 | 4.9% | +2.6% |
| 2017 | 4.9% | -0.1% |
| 2018 | 4.7% | -4.2% |
| 2019 | 4.5% | -2.8% |
| 2020 | 4.4% | -4.2% |
| 2021 | 4.7% | +7.3% |
| 2022 | 4.8% | +3.6% |
| 2023 | 4.6% | -5.5% |
| 2024 | 4.2% | -7.2% |
Mauritius compared with similar countries
- Mauritius's 4.2% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 4.2%, 1.0× the median. (54 countries reporting)
- Mauritius's 4.2% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 3.2%, 1.3× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Mauritius 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | +73.9% | 2.5% | 4.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3.6% | 2.5% | 5.5% | 6 |
| 1980s | 3.9% | 3.0% | 5.0% | 9 |
| 1990s | 3.5% | 3.1% | 3.9% | 3 |
| 2000s | 3.5% | 3.0% | 4.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.2% | 3.3% | 4.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.5% | 4.2% | 4.8% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Mauritius
More education data for Mauritius
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 9,330 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 21 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 13,956 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 13,539 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 100,395 (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 84,530 (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -5.02 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0679 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government spending on education as a share of gdp in Mauritius?
- Government spending on education as a share of gdp in Mauritius was 4.2% in 2024, 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 Mauritius?
- The highest recorded value was 5.5% in 1978.
- What is the lowest government spending on education as a share of gdp recorded in Mauritius?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.5% in 1975.
- How does Mauritius rank for government spending on education as a share of gdp?
- Mauritius ranks 97th out of 199 countries with data for 2024.
- Is government spending on education as a share of gdp rising or falling in Mauritius?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Mauritius 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.