Initial government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP in Uganda
Uganda: Initial government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP was 1.5% in 2018. ▼ Falling
Initial government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP in Uganda, 1971–2018
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2018, initial government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp in Uganda stood at 1.5%. That is the lowest value across all 21 years on record.
That represents a change of down 11.1% on the previous year and down 1.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, initial government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp in Uganda peaked at 5.1% in 1988 and was at its lowest, 1.5%, in 2018.
That places Uganda 176th out of 185 countries with data for 2018, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 21 years of available data.
Initial government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP in Uganda, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 3.2% | — |
| 1973 | 3.4% | +6.0% |
| 1974 | 3.4% | +1.2% |
| 1975 | 3.2% | -5.0% |
| 1976 | 2.7% | -16.9% |
| 1982 | 2.5% | -6.0% |
| 1983 | 1.7% | -32.9% |
| 1984 | 2.4% | +43.8% |
| 1985 | 3.4% | +41.3% |
| 1988 | 5.1% | +48.7% |
| 2000 | 2.1% | -57.9% |
| 2004 | 2.8% | +32.5% |
| 2010 | 1.5% | -45.6% |
| 2011 | 1.9% | +24.0% |
| 2012 | 1.7% | -13.1% |
| 2013 | 1.7% | +4.6% |
| 2014 | 1.7% | -0.7% |
| 2015 | 1.7% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 1.6% | -7.6% |
| 2017 | 1.7% | +7.4% |
| 2018 | 1.5% | -11.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3.2% | 2.7% | 3.4% | 5 |
| 1980s | 3.0% | 1.7% | 5.1% | 5 |
| 2000s | 2.5% | 2.1% | 2.8% | 2 |
| 2010s | 1.7% | 1.5% | 1.9% | 9 |
Countries ranked near Uganda
More education data for Uganda
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 63,957 (2014)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 778,349 (2017)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 301,523 (2017)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 307,450 (2017)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.03 million (2007)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 8.84 million (2017)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 2.13 % change on previous year (2017)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0003 units per US$ of GDP (2017)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.22 units per person (2017)
Frequently asked questions
- What is initial government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp in Uganda?
- Initial government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp in Uganda was 1.5% in 2018, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest initial government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp recorded in Uganda?
- The highest recorded value was 5.1% in 1988.
- What is the lowest initial government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp recorded in Uganda?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.5% in 2018.
- How does Uganda rank for initial government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp?
- Uganda ranks 176th out of 185 countries with data for 2018.
- Is initial government expenditure on education as a percentage of gdp rising or falling in Uganda?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Uganda data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Initial government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 21 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release