Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Tonga

Tonga: Government spending on education as a share of GDP was 5.3% in 2022. ▼ Falling

Latest (2022)
5.3%
Change on year
up 2.9%
World rank
49th
of 199 countries
All-time high
10.3%
in 1984
All-time low
3.8%
in 2002
Years of data
14
1984–2022

Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Tonga, 1984–2022

02.557.5101984200320221984: 10.3 % of GDP1998: 5.5 % of GDP1999: 5.4 % of GDP2000: 4.9 % of GDP2001: 4.5 % of GDP2002: 3.8 % of GDP2003: 4.2 % of GDP2004: 3.9 % of GDP2017: 4.6 % of GDP2018: 4.7 % of GDP2019: 4.9 % of GDP2020: 5 % of GDP2021: 5.2 % of GDP2022: 5.3 % of GDP

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.

Analysis

In 2022, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Tonga stood at 5.3%.

That represents a change of up 2.9% on the previous year and up 14.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Tonga peaked at 10.3% in 1984 and was at its lowest, 3.8%, in 2002.

Tonga ranks 49th of 199 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 14 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1980s 10.3% 10.3% 10.3% 1
1990s 5.4% 5.4% 5.5% 2
2000s 4.2% 3.8% 4.9% 5
2010s 4.7% 4.6% 4.9% 3
2020s 5.2% 5.0% 5.3% 3

Countries ranked near Tonga

  1. 46 Burkina Faso 5.3% compare
  2. 47 France 5.3% compare
  3. 48 Costa Rica 5.3% compare
  4. 50 Slovenia 5.3% compare
  5. 51 Austria 5.3% compare
  6. 52 Colombia 5.3% compare

See the full ranking of 199 places →

More education data for Tonga

All data for Tonga →

Frequently asked questions

What is government spending on education as a share of gdp in Tonga?
Government spending on education as a share of gdp in Tonga was 5.3% in 2022, 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 Tonga?
The highest recorded value was 10.3% in 1984.
What is the lowest government spending on education as a share of gdp recorded in Tonga?
The lowest recorded value was 3.8% in 2002.
How does Tonga rank for government spending on education as a share of gdp?
Tonga ranks 49th out of 199 countries with data for 2022.
Is government spending on education as a share of gdp rising or falling in Tonga?
Over the last ten years it is up 14.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Tonga 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

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About this data

Indicator
Government spending on education as a share of GDP
Unit
% of GDP
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
199 places, 5,187 data points, 1870–2025
Last refreshed

Total annual general government spending on all levels of education, expressed as a percentage of GDP.