Government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of GDP in Zambia
Zambia: Government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of GDP was 2.5% in 2017. ▼ Falling
Government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of GDP in Zambia, 1970–2017
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Zambia recorded 2.5% for government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of gdp in 2017.
The figure is down 0.6% on the previous year and up 142.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of gdp in Zambia peaked at 2.9% in 2015 and was at its lowest, 0.7%, in 1994.
That places Zambia 11th out of 162 countries with data for 2017, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 29 years of available data.
Government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of GDP in Zambia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 1.7% | — |
| 1971 | 2.3% | +36.2% |
| 1972 | 2.3% | -0.6% |
| 1973 | 2.0% | -12.4% |
| 1974 | 1.9% | -6.8% |
| 1975 | 2.4% | +30.0% |
| 1976 | 2.5% | +1.7% |
| 1977 | 2.4% | -2.7% |
| 1978 | 2.1% | -11.2% |
| 1979 | 2.0% | -5.7% |
| 1980 | 1.8% | -11.2% |
| 1981 | 1.5% | -13.8% |
| 1982 | 2.5% | +60.7% |
| 1983 | 2.3% | -5.5% |
| 1984 | 2.1% | -11.2% |
| 1985 | 1.7% | -18.3% |
| 1986 | 1.2% | -28.1% |
| 1987 | 0.9% | -26.6% |
| 1991 | 1.1% | +18.2% |
| 1992 | 0.7% | -33.7% |
| 1993 | 0.7% | +6.0% |
| 1994 | 0.7% | -8.4% |
| 1995 | 0.8% | +9.9% |
| 2000 | 1.0% | +30.4% |
| 2004 | 1.6% | +60.5% |
| 2005 | 1.0% | -34.1% |
| 2015 | 2.9% | +179.6% |
| 2016 | 2.5% | -12.8% |
| 2017 | 2.5% | -0.6% |
Zambia compared with similar countries
- Zambia's 2.5% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 1.7%, 1.5× the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Zambia's 2.5% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 1.6%, 1.6× the median. (37 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of GDP in Zambia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | +179.6% | 1.0% | 2.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2.2% | 1.7% | 2.5% | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.8% | 0.9% | 2.5% | 8 |
| 1990s | 0.8% | 0.7% | 1.1% | 5 |
| 2000s | 1.2% | 1.0% | 1.6% | 3 |
| 2010s | 2.6% | 2.5% | 2.9% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Zambia
More education data for Zambia
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 42,585 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 169,961 (2013)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.39 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 4.49 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 2.55 % change on previous year (2017)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0002 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.2106 units per person (2024)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Enrolment in primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 4.49 million (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of gdp in Zambia?
- Government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of gdp in Zambia was 2.5% in 2017, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of gdp recorded in Zambia?
- The highest recorded value was 2.9% in 2015.
- What is the lowest government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of gdp recorded in Zambia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.7% in 1994.
- How does Zambia rank for government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of gdp?
- Zambia ranks 11th out of 162 countries with data for 2017.
- Is government expenditure on primary education as a percentage of gdp rising or falling in Zambia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 142.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Zambia 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 — 29 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release