Government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of GDP in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso: Government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of GDP was 2.1% in 2015. ▲ Rising
Government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of GDP in Burkina Faso, 1978–2015
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2015, government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of gdp in Burkina Faso stood at 2.1%.
That represents a change of down 19.9% on the previous year and down 24.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of gdp in Burkina Faso peaked at 2.8% in 2005 and was at its lowest, 0.6%, in 1980.
That places Burkina Faso 20th out of 162 countries with data for 2015, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 17 years of available data.
Government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of GDP in Burkina Faso, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 0.7% | — |
| 1980 | 0.6% | -9.2% |
| 1983 | 0.7% | +4.6% |
| 1985 | 0.7% | +14.1% |
| 1988 | 0.9% | +17.0% |
| 1994 | 1.9% | +112.7% |
| 1996 | 1.4% | -23.5% |
| 1997 | 1.5% | +8.2% |
| 2005 | 2.8% | +82.4% |
| 2006 | 2.7% | -5.2% |
| 2007 | 2.7% | +2.8% |
| 2010 | 2.1% | -22.7% |
| 2011 | 2.5% | +18.1% |
| 2012 | 2.2% | -12.5% |
| 2013 | 2.4% | +11.8% |
| 2014 | 2.7% | +8.6% |
| 2015 | 2.1% | -19.9% |
Burkina Faso compared with similar countries
- Burkina Faso's 2.1% is above the median for low income countries, which is 1.6%, 1.3× the median. (16 countries reporting)
- Burkina Faso's 2.1% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 1.6%, 1.4× the median. (37 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Government expenditure on primary 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | +112.7% | 0.9% | 1.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 1 |
| 1980s | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.9% | 4 |
| 1990s | 1.6% | 1.4% | 1.9% | 3 |
| 2000s | 2.7% | 2.7% | 2.8% | 3 |
| 2010s | 2.3% | 2.1% | 2.7% | 6 |
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 primary education as a percentage of gdp in Burkina Faso?
- Government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of gdp in Burkina Faso was 2.1% in 2015, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of gdp recorded in Burkina Faso?
- The highest recorded value was 2.8% in 2005.
- What is the lowest government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of gdp recorded in Burkina Faso?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.6% in 1980.
- How does Burkina Faso rank for government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of gdp?
- Burkina Faso ranks 20th out of 162 countries with data for 2015.
- Is government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of gdp rising or falling in Burkina Faso?
- Over the last ten years it is down 24.3%. 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 primary education as a percentage of GDP (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release