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Japan — Education spending
Government Education Spending (% of GDP) for Japan, 1971–2021.
Latest value · 2021
3.34%
Government Education Spending (% of GDP) · % of GDP · -6.8% since 1971
Education spending for Japan was 3.34% in 2021, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 42 years, from 1971 to 2021. The highest recorded value was 5.49% in 1987. The lowest was 3.08% in 2018 (about 1.1× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to -0.14% per year.
Japan ranks 120 of 172 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 70%. The median for East Asia & Pacific is 4.25%, so Japan sits below it. It peaked in 1987 and has fallen 39% since. Over the last decade (2011–2021) the figure moved down 7%.
Key figures
Latest (2021)
3.34%
First (1971)
3.58%
Change
-6.8%
Highest
5.49%
in 1987
Lowest
3.08%
in 2018
Average
3.86%
Annual growth (CAGR)
-0.14%
Years of data
42
Recent years
| Year | % of GDP |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 3.34% |
| 2020 | 3.31% |
| 2019 | 3.16% |
| 2018 | 3.08% |
| 2017 | 3.13% |
| 2016 | 3.15% |
| 2015 | 3.31% |
| 2014 | 3.42% |
| 2013 | 3.41% |
| 2012 | 3.42% |
| 2011 | 3.61% |
| 2010 | 3.6% |
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.