Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Uruguay
Uruguay: Government spending on education as a share of GDP was 4.8% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Government spending on education as a share of GDP in Uruguay, 1979–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2023, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Uruguay stood at 4.8%. That is the highest value across all 31 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 6.4% on the previous year and up 12.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government spending on education as a share of gdp in Uruguay peaked at 4.8% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 2.0%, in 1979.
That places Uruguay 71st out of 199 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 31 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2.0% | 2.0% | 2.0% | 1 |
| 1980s | 2.6% | 2.2% | 3.1% | 4 |
| 1990s | 2.5% | 2.2% | 2.9% | 6 |
| 2000s | 2.5% | 2.1% | 2.9% | 7 |
| 2010s | 4.3% | 4.1% | 4.6% | 9 |
| 2020s | 4.6% | 4.5% | 4.8% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Uruguay
- 68 Kazakhstan 4.9% compare
- 69 Switzerland 4.9% compare
- 70 Canada 4.8% compare
- 72 Cyprus 4.7% compare
- 74 Slovakia 4.7% compare
More education data for Uruguay
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 65.8% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 17.9% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 104.5% (2023)
- Primary education, teachers 18,882 (2023)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.4 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 104.0% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government spending on education as a share of gdp in Uruguay?
- Government spending on education as a share of gdp in Uruguay was 4.8% 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 Uruguay?
- The highest recorded value was 4.8% in 2023.
- What is the lowest government spending on education as a share of gdp recorded in Uruguay?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.0% in 1979.
- How does Uruguay rank for government spending on education as a share of gdp?
- Uruguay ranks 71st out of 199 countries with data for 2023.
- Is government spending on education as a share of gdp rising or falling in Uruguay?
- Over the last ten years it is up 12.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Uruguay 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.