Government expenditure on tertiary education as a percentage of GDP in Iceland
Iceland: Government expenditure on tertiary education as a percentage of GDP was 1.3% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Government expenditure on tertiary education as a percentage of GDP in Iceland, 1990–2022
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Iceland recorded 1.3% for government expenditure on tertiary education as a percentage of gdp in 2022.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 6.6% on the previous year and down 9.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government expenditure on tertiary education as a percentage of gdp in Iceland peaked at 1.5% in 2010 and was at its lowest, 0.6%, in 1990.
That places Iceland 24th out of 173 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 29 years of available data.
Government expenditure on tertiary education as a percentage of GDP in Iceland, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 0.6% | — |
| 1993 | 1.1% | +97.1% |
| 1994 | 0.9% | -17.5% |
| 1995 | 0.9% | -3.2% |
| 1996 | 0.9% | -6.7% |
| 1999 | 1.2% | +35.2% |
| 2000 | 1.2% | +0.4% |
| 2001 | 1.2% | +2.9% |
| 2002 | 1.3% | +10.2% |
| 2003 | 1.3% | +2.1% |
| 2004 | 1.3% | -1.4% |
| 2005 | 1.4% | +5.7% |
| 2006 | 1.3% | -7.9% |
| 2007 | 1.3% | +1.4% |
| 2008 | 1.4% | +5.7% |
| 2009 | 1.5% | +5.8% |
| 2010 | 1.5% | +1.6% |
| 2011 | 1.3% | -11.5% |
| 2012 | 1.5% | +11.5% |
| 2013 | 1.4% | -1.9% |
| 2014 | 1.4% | -0.4% |
| 2015 | 1.4% | -2.0% |
| 2016 | 1.5% | +5.1% |
| 2017 | 1.4% | -8.0% |
| 2018 | 1.2% | -9.6% |
| 2019 | 1.3% | +4.5% |
| 2020 | 1.5% | +13.7% |
| 2021 | 1.4% | -2.7% |
| 2022 | 1.3% | -6.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.9% | 0.6% | 1.2% | 6 |
| 2000s | 1.3% | 1.2% | 1.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.4% | 1.2% | 1.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.4% | 1.3% | 1.5% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More education data for Iceland
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 0 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 6,661 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 6,167 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 37,056 (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 32,314 (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.17 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0838 units per person (2023)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government expenditure on tertiary education as a percentage of gdp in Iceland?
- Government expenditure on tertiary education as a percentage of gdp in Iceland was 1.3% in 2022, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest government expenditure on tertiary education as a percentage of gdp recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 1.5% in 2010.
- What is the lowest government expenditure on tertiary education as a percentage of gdp recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.6% in 1990.
- How does Iceland rank for government expenditure on tertiary education as a percentage of gdp?
- Iceland ranks 24th out of 173 countries with data for 2022.
- Is government expenditure on tertiary education as a percentage of gdp rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 9.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Iceland data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Government expenditure on tertiary 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