Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Thailand
Thailand: Government spending on education as a share of GDP was 2.5% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Thailand, 1971–2023
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 Thailand is 2.5%, measured in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 3.5% on the previous year and down 38.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Thailand peaked at 5.3% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 2.1%, in 1974.
Thailand ranks 166th of 199 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 49 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2.8% | 2.1% | 3.2% | 8 |
| 1980s | 3.0% | 2.5% | 3.5% | 9 |
| 1990s | 3.8% | 3.0% | 4.8% | 8 |
| 2000s | 4.1% | 3.5% | 5.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.8% | 3.0% | 4.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.8% | 2.5% | 3.2% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Thailand
More education data for Thailand
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 69.6% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 14.4% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 100.7% (2025)
- Primary education, teachers 305,368 (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.2 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 100.0% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government spending on education as a share of gdp in Thailand?
- Government spending on education as a share of gdp in Thailand was 2.5% 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 Thailand?
- The highest recorded value was 5.3% in 2000.
- What is the lowest government spending on education as a share of gdp recorded in Thailand?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.1% in 1974.
- How does Thailand rank for government spending on education as a share of gdp?
- Thailand ranks 166th out of 199 countries with data for 2023.
- Is government spending on education as a share of gdp rising or falling in Thailand?
- Over the last ten years it is down 38.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Thailand 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 — 49 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.