Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Nigeria
Nigeria: Government spending on education as a share of GDP was 0.3% in 2023. ◆ Volatile
Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Nigeria, 1974–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Nigeria recorded 0.3% for government spending on education as a share of gdp in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 14 years on record.
The figure is down 8.4% on the previous year and down 40.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Nigeria peaked at 3.2% in 1974 and was at its lowest, 0.3%, in 2023.
Nigeria ranks 198th of 199 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3.1% | 3.1% | 3.2% | 2 |
| 2010s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 8 |
| 2020s | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More education data for Nigeria
- Duration of pre-primary education 1 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 5 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 56.4% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 40.5% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 89.6% (2023)
- Primary education, teachers 913,305 (2021)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 4.38 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 88.2% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government spending on education as a share of gdp in Nigeria?
- Government spending on education as a share of gdp in Nigeria was 0.3% 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 Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 3.2% in 1974.
- What is the lowest government spending on education as a share of gdp recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3% in 2023.
- How does Nigeria rank for government spending on education as a share of gdp?
- Nigeria ranks 198th out of 199 countries with data for 2023.
- Is government spending on education as a share of gdp rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is down 40.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Nigeria 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 — 14 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.