Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso: Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP was 5.3% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP in Burkina Faso, 1978–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2023, government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp in Burkina Faso stood at 5.3%.
The figure is up 0.6% on the previous year and up 30.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp in Burkina Faso peaked at 5.6% in 2017 and was at its lowest, 1.4%, in 1988.
Burkina Faso ranks 46th of 199 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 23 years of available data.
Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP in Burkina Faso, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 1.7% | — |
| 1980 | 2.0% | +16.8% |
| 1983 | 1.8% | -10.6% |
| 1985 | 1.8% | +0.5% |
| 1988 | 1.4% | -19.2% |
| 1994 | 3.5% | +142.0% |
| 1996 | 1.4% | -58.3% |
| 2005 | 3.9% | +173.6% |
| 2006 | 4.0% | +1.0% |
| 2007 | 4.1% | +2.5% |
| 2010 | 3.5% | -14.2% |
| 2011 | 4.0% | +13.8% |
| 2012 | 3.6% | -9.6% |
| 2013 | 4.1% | +13.3% |
| 2014 | 4.1% | -0.7% |
| 2015 | 3.7% | -9.5% |
| 2017 | 5.6% | +53.4% |
| 2018 | 5.5% | -2.5% |
| 2019 | 5.5% | -0.6% |
| 2020 | 5.2% | -4.5% |
| 2021 | 5.2% | +0.7% |
| 2022 | 5.3% | +0.9% |
| 2023 | 5.3% | +0.6% |
Burkina Faso compared with similar countries
- Burkina Faso's 5.3% is above the median for low income countries, which is 2.8%, 1.9× the median. (23 countries reporting)
- Burkina Faso's 5.3% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 3.2%, 1.7× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP in Burkina Faso changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | +173.6% | 1.4% | 3.9% |
| 1994 | +142.0% | 1.4% | 3.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1.7% | 1.7% | 1.7% | 1 |
| 1980s | 1.7% | 1.4% | 2.0% | 4 |
| 1990s | 2.4% | 1.4% | 3.5% | 2 |
| 2000s | 4.0% | 3.9% | 4.1% | 3 |
| 2010s | 4.4% | 3.5% | 5.6% | 9 |
| 2020s | 5.3% | 5.2% | 5.3% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Burkina Faso
More education data for Burkina Faso
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 68,557 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 105,439 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 78,072 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 75,598 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.19 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 3.07 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 8.2 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1303 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp in Burkina Faso?
- Government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp in Burkina Faso was 5.3% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp recorded in Burkina Faso?
- The highest recorded value was 5.6% in 2017.
- What is the lowest government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp recorded in Burkina Faso?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.4% in 1988.
- How does Burkina Faso rank for government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp?
- Burkina Faso ranks 46th out of 199 countries with data for 2023.
- Is government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp rising or falling in Burkina Faso?
- Over the last ten years it is up 30.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Burkina Faso data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 23 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release