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China — Education spending
Government Education Spending (% of GDP) for China, 1971–2023.
Latest value · 2023
3.90%
Government Education Spending (% of GDP) · % of GDP · +181.1% since 1971
Education spending for China was 3.90% in 2023, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 26 years, from 1971 to 2023. The latest year is also the highest value on record for this series. The lowest was 1.39% in 1971 (about 2.8× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 2.01% per year.
China ranks 100 of 172 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 58%. The median for East Asia & Pacific is 4.25%, so China sits below it.
Key figures
Latest (2023)
3.90%
First (1971)
1.39%
Change
+181.1%
Highest
3.90%
in 2023
Lowest
1.39%
in 1971
Average
1.92%
Annual growth (CAGR)
2.01%
Years of data
26
Recent years
| Year | % of GDP |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 3.9% |
| 1999 | 1.87% |
| 1998 | 1.83% |
| 1996 | 1.84% |
| 1995 | 1.83% |
| 1994 | 1.98% |
| 1993 | 1.65% |
| 1992 | 1.65% |
| 1988 | 1.76% |
| 1987 | 1.8% |
| 1986 | 2.06% |
| 1985 | 2% |
Reading this correctly. Total general government expenditure on education, expressed as a percentage of GDP. Includes both current and capital spending. Figures are in % of GDP. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS — Government Education Spending (% of GDP). Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.