Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP in Colombia
Colombia: Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP was 5.3% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP in Colombia, 1979–2020
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Colombia recorded 5.3% for government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp in 2020. That is the highest value across all 29 years on record.
That represents a change of up 16.6% on the previous year and up 8.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp in Colombia peaked at 5.3% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 1.7%, in 1980.
That places Colombia 52nd out of 199 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 29 years of available data.
Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP in Colombia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 1.8% | — |
| 1980 | 1.7% | -1.4% |
| 1981 | 2.6% | +50.2% |
| 1984 | 3.0% | +15.7% |
| 1985 | 2.7% | -9.6% |
| 1989 | 2.7% | -0.4% |
| 1998 | 3.9% | +45.1% |
| 1999 | 4.4% | +13.1% |
| 2000 | 3.5% | -20.9% |
| 2001 | 3.7% | +5.6% |
| 2002 | 4.3% | +15.1% |
| 2003 | 4.3% | +1.3% |
| 2004 | 4.1% | -5.7% |
| 2005 | 4.0% | -1.4% |
| 2006 | 3.9% | -2.6% |
| 2007 | 4.1% | +4.2% |
| 2008 | 3.9% | -3.5% |
| 2009 | 4.8% | +21.3% |
| 2010 | 4.8% | +1.2% |
| 2011 | 4.5% | -7.6% |
| 2012 | 4.4% | -2.1% |
| 2013 | 4.9% | +11.6% |
| 2014 | 4.6% | -5.1% |
| 2015 | 4.5% | -3.4% |
| 2016 | 4.5% | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 4.5% | +1.3% |
| 2018 | 4.4% | -1.9% |
| 2019 | 4.5% | +1.4% |
| 2020 | 5.3% | +16.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1.8% | 1.8% | 1.8% | 1 |
| 1980s | 2.6% | 1.7% | 3.0% | 5 |
| 1990s | 4.2% | 3.9% | 4.4% | 2 |
| 2000s | 4.1% | 3.5% | 4.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.6% | 4.4% | 4.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.3% | 5.3% | 5.3% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Colombia
More education data for Colombia
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 190,940 (2022)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 234,939 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 963,182 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 937,684 (2022)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 4.85 million (2022)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 4.14 million (2022)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.2 % change on previous year (2022)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2022)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.08 units per person (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp in Colombia?
- Government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp in Colombia was 5.3% in 2020, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp recorded in Colombia?
- The highest recorded value was 5.3% in 2020.
- What is the lowest government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp recorded in Colombia?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.7% in 1980.
- How does Colombia rank for government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp?
- Colombia ranks 52nd out of 199 countries with data for 2020.
- Is government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp rising or falling in Colombia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Colombia 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.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 29 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release