Countries With the Fastest Growth in Education expenditure share of GDP (5-Year Change)

Name: Countries With the Fastest Growth in Education expenditure share of GDP (5-Year Change)
Creator: The World Bank
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Change in Education expenditure share of GDP over the five years to each country's latest year, in points (a share or rate is not shown as a % of itself). Only countries that rose are listed. Source: The World Bank (CC BY 4.0).

Summary

Vanuatu rose the most: by 5.86 pts, from 1.77% of GDP to 7.64% of GDP in the five years to 2024. Mauritania is second (+5.79 pts), followed by Kiribati (+3.47 pts). 82 countries rose over that period; the median change among them was +0.484 pts.

#1: Vanuatu · +5.86 pts
Median: +0.484 pts
Coverage: 82 countries
Data year: 2023
Last updated: 2026-11-14

Top 10: 5-year change (points). Bar chart of the top 10: 1. Vanuatu 5.86; 2. Mauritania 5.79; 3. Kiribati 3.47; 4. Algeria 3.4; 5. Kazakhstan 2.25; 6. Grenada 1.57; 7. Congo, Dem. Rep. 1.39; 8. Rwanda 1.38; 9. Maldives 1.31; 10. Korea, Rep. 1.3.

Full ranking

Countries With the Fastest Growth in Education expenditure share of GDP (5-Year Change), 2023
Rank	Country	From	To	5-year change (points)
1	Vanuatu	1.77	7.64	+5.86 pts
2	Mauritania	1.82	7.61	+5.79 pts
3	Kiribati	12.9	16.4	+3.47 pts
4	Algeria	5.58	8.98	+3.4 pts
5	Kazakhstan	2.62	4.86	+2.25 pts
6	Grenada	3.56	5.13	+1.57 pts
7	Congo, Dem. Rep.	1.45	2.84	+1.39 pts
8	Rwanda	3.24	4.61	+1.38 pts
9	Maldives	3.86	5.17	+1.31 pts
10	Korea, Rep.	4.11	5.41	+1.3 pts
11	Kyrgyz Republic	5.55	6.83	+1.27 pts
12	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	5.22	6.46	+1.23 pts
13	Azerbaijan	2.46	3.66	+1.21 pts
14	Mali	2.98	4.18	+1.2 pts
15	Turkmenistan	3.12	4.29	+1.17 pts
16	Morocco	4.96	6.02	+1.06 pts
17	Senegal	5.11	6.16	+1.05 pts
18	Moldova	5.54	6.56	+1.02 pts
19	Puerto Rico (US)	3.33	4.27	+0.943 pts
20	Chad	2.26	3.2	+0.942 pts
21	Bangladesh	1.13	2.03	+0.904 pts
22	Samoa	4.58	5.46	+0.872 pts
23	Seychelles	3.59	4.45	+0.86 pts
24	Antigua and Barbuda	2.27	3.11	+0.836 pts
25	Turks and Caicos Islands	2.12	2.95	+0.828 pts
26	Colombia	4.47	5.26	+0.791 pts
27	Macao SAR, China	2.73	3.5	+0.768 pts
28	British Virgin Islands	2.43	3.17	+0.747 pts
29	Slovak Republic	3.92	4.66	+0.738 pts
30	Naoero	5.05	5.78	+0.724 pts
31	Tonga	4.64	5.31	+0.674 pts
32	United States	4.78	5.42	+0.637 pts
33	Uzbekistan	4.84	5.47	+0.637 pts
34	Niger	3.45	4.07	+0.624 pts
35	Cambodia	1.6	2.18	+0.577 pts
36	St. Lucia	3.27	3.85	+0.574 pts
37	Congo, Rep.	2.77	3.34	+0.568 pts
38	Czechia	3.76	4.3	+0.547 pts
39	Peru	3.82	4.36	+0.535 pts
40	Dominica	4.89	5.39	+0.498 pts
41	Mozambique	5.49	5.98	+0.489 pts
42	United Kingdom	5.43	5.91	+0.479 pts
43	St. Kitts and Nevis	3.04	3.5	+0.462 pts
44	Germany	4.78	5.24	+0.461 pts
45	Slovenia	4.82	5.28	+0.457 pts
46	West Bank and Gaza	4.98	5.43	+0.451 pts
47	Gambia, The	2.37	2.81	+0.443 pts
48	Lithuania	3.81	4.25	+0.441 pts
49	Bulgaria	4.08	4.5	+0.424 pts
50	Spain	4.18	4.59	+0.407 pts
51	Malta	4.34	4.71	+0.37 pts
52	Jamaica	5.16	5.51	+0.35 pts
53	Estonia	4.86	5.21	+0.344 pts
54	Eswatini	5.7	6.03	+0.332 pts
55	Angola	2.18	2.51	+0.329 pts
56	Armenia	2.11	2.44	+0.325 pts
57	Uganda	2.25	2.56	+0.308 pts
58	Benin	2.93	3.23	+0.298 pts
59	Indonesia	0.994	1.28	+0.281 pts
60	Central African Republic	1.57	1.83	+0.264 pts
61	Luxembourg	3.49	3.74	+0.258 pts
62	Bahamas, The	2.49	2.74	+0.249 pts
63	Jordan	2.99	3.23	+0.245 pts
64	Madagascar	2.84	3.05	+0.204 pts
65	Côte d'Ivoire	3.41	3.61	+0.2 pts
66	Japan	3.15	3.34	+0.19 pts
67	Uruguay	4.6	4.76	+0.161 pts
68	Romania	3.12	3.28	+0.161 pts
69	Georgia	3.83	3.98	+0.15 pts
70	Ukraine	5.01	5.14	+0.13 pts
71	Argentina	4.88	5	+0.125 pts
72	Philippines	3.86	3.97	+0.111 pts
73	South Africa	5.91	6.02	+0.109 pts
74	Netherlands	5.09	5.18	+0.092 pts
75	Belarus	4.98	5.05	+0.066 pts
76	Tajikistan	5.39	5.44	+0.052 pts
77	Togo	4.09	4.14	+0.051 pts
78	Paraguay	3.49	3.53	+0.044 pts
79	Italy	4.03	4.07	+0.041 pts
80	New Zealand	5.19	5.21	+0.024 pts
81	Albania	3.08	3.09	+0.0095 pts
82	Somalia, Fed. Rep.	0	0	+0 pts

About the top 10

#1 Vanuatu

Vanuatu ranks #1 on this list with +5.86 pts.

Capital: Port Vila
Continent: Oceania
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 335,170 people (2025)
GDP: US$1.35 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$4,039 (2025)
Life expectancy: 71.7 years (2024)
Urban population: 22.3% of population (2025)

Also ranks #6 in school enrolment (secondary) · #6 in completion rate (primary) · #9 in rural population share.

Full country profile

#2 Mauritania

Mauritania ranks #2 on this list with +5.79 pts.

Capital: Nouakchott
Continent: Africa
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 5.32 million people (2025)
GDP: US$11.68 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$2,198 (2025)
Life expectancy: 68.7 years (2024)
Urban population: 61.5% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Nouakchott.

Also ranks #2 in gross capital formation rate · #3 in prevalence of wasting (under-5) · #8 in gender parity index (school enrolment).

Full country profile

#3 Kiribati

Kiribati ranks #3 on this list with +3.47 pts.

Capital: South Tarawa
Continent: Oceania
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 136,490 people (2025)
GDP: US$349.23 million (2025)
GDP per person: US$2,559 (2025)
Life expectancy: 66.6 years (2024)
Urban population: 63.4% of population (2025)

Also ranks #1 in education expenditure share of gdp · #2 in government revenue share of gdp · #3 in income share of poorest 10%.

Full country profile

#4 Algeria

Algeria ranks #4 on this list with +3.4 pts.

Capital: Algiers
Continent: Africa
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 47.44 million people (2025)
GDP: US$287.03 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$6,051 (2025)
Life expectancy: 76.5 years (2024)
Urban population: 75.8% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Algiers.

Also ranks #1 in gross capital formation rate · #5 in education expenditure share of gdp · #10 in land area.

Full country profile

#5 Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan ranks #5 on this list with +2.25 pts.

Capital: Astana
Continent: Asia
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 20.84 million people (2025)
GDP: US$306.24 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$14,692 (2025)
Life expectancy: 74.5 years (2024)
Urban population: 62.4% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Almaty, Shymkent, Astana.

Also ranks #2 in debt service share of exports · #4 in income share of poorest 10% · #6 in protected marine area share.

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#6 Grenada

Grenada ranks #6 on this list with +1.57 pts.

Capital: St. George's
Continent: North America
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 117,300 people (2025)
GDP: US$1.42 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$12,107 (2025)
Life expectancy: 75.4 years (2024)
Urban population: 36.7% of population (2025)

Also ranks #15 in gini index · #16 in income share of richest 10% · #23 in homicide rate.

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#7 Congo, Dem. Rep.

Congo, Dem. Rep. ranks #7 on this list with +1.39 pts.

Capital: Kinshasa
Continent: Africa
Income group: Low income
Population: 112.83 million people (2025)
GDP: US$91.03 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$806.8 (2025)
Life expectancy: 62.1 years (2024)
Urban population: 45.1% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Kinshasa, Mbuji-Mayi, Kananga.

Also ranks #1 in renewable energy share · #1 in poverty headcount ratio · #1 in mineral rents share of gdp.

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#8 Rwanda

Rwanda ranks #8 on this list with +1.38 pts.

Capital: Kigali
Continent: Africa
Income group: Low income
Population: 14.57 million people (2025)
GDP: US$16.37 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$1,124 (2025)
Life expectancy: 68 years (2024)
Urban population: 30.9% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Kigali.

Also ranks #1 in women in parliament share · #2 in school enrolment (primary) · #2 in pupil-teacher ratio (primary).

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#9 Maldives

Maldives ranks #9 on this list with +1.31 pts.

Capital: Malé
Continent: Asia
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 529,680 people (2025)
GDP: US$7.74 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$14,615 (2025)
Life expectancy: 81.3 years (2024)
Urban population: 42.5% of population (2025)

Also ranks #5 in male population share · #5 in population ages 15-64 share · #8 in population density.

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#10 Korea, Rep.

Korea, Rep. ranks #10 on this list with +1.3 pts.

Capital: Seoul
Continent: Asia
Income group: High income
Population: 51.69 million people (2025)
GDP: US$1.87 trillion (2025)
GDP per person: US$36,227 (2025)
Life expectancy: 83.6 years (2024)
Urban population: 81.2% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Seoul, Busan, Incheon.

Also ranks #1 in hospital beds per 10,000 · #2 in atms per 100,000 adults · #2 in researchers in r&d per million.

Full country profile Weather in Seoul (Purr Weather)

Profile facts: World Bank (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata (CC0); weather links go to Purr Weather, another ChowChow Labs site.

Source and method

Change in Education expenditure share of GDP over the five years to each country's latest year, in points (a share or rate is not shown as a % of itself). Only countries that rose are listed.

Source: The World Bank, indicator SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Retrieved: 2026-11-14.

The World Bank: Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP): Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (via World Development Indicators)

Original data provider, as recorded by the World Bank: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Values are shown as published (changes are computed from the published values). Provider terms: The World Bank. All licences: Sources & licences.

Summary

Full ranking

About the top 10

#1 Vanuatu

#2 Mauritania

#3 Kiribati

#4 Algeria

#5 Kazakhstan

#6 Grenada

#7 Congo, Dem. Rep.

#8 Rwanda

#9 Maldives

#10 Korea, Rep.

Related rankings

Source and method