Government spending on education as a share of GDP in New Zealand
New Zealand: Government spending on education as a share of GDP was 5.2% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Government spending on education as a share of GDP in New Zealand, 1937–2023
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 New Zealand is 5.2%, measured in 2023.
The figure is up 0.9% on the previous year and down 11.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government spending on education as a share of gdp in New Zealand peaked at 7.3% in 1993 and was at its lowest, 2.3%, in 1937.
New Zealand ranks 55th of 199 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 2.3% | 2.3% | 2.3% | 1 |
| 1960s | 3.2% | 3.2% | 3.2% | 1 |
| 1970s | 4.8% | 4.5% | 5.5% | 7 |
| 1980s | 4.2% | 3.4% | 4.8% | 9 |
| 1990s | 6.4% | 5.7% | 7.3% | 6 |
| 2000s | 5.6% | 5.6% | 5.6% | 1 |
| 2010s | 5.5% | 5.2% | 5.9% | 7 |
| 2020s | 5.4% | 5.2% | 5.6% | 4 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More education data for New Zealand
- Duration of pre-primary education 2 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 5 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 64.5% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 17.9% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 11 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 96.7% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 26,597 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.66 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 96.8% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government spending on education as a share of gdp in New Zealand?
- Government spending on education as a share of gdp in New Zealand was 5.2% 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 New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 7.3% in 1993.
- What is the lowest government spending on education as a share of gdp recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.3% in 1937.
- How does New Zealand rank for government spending on education as a share of gdp?
- New Zealand ranks 55th out of 199 countries with data for 2023.
- Is government spending on education as a share of gdp rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this New Zealand 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 — 36 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.