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New Zealand — Education spending
Government Education Spending (% of GDP) for New Zealand, 1973–2023.
Latest value · 2023
5.21%
Government Education Spending (% of GDP) · % of GDP · +9.7% since 1973
Education spending for New Zealand was 5.21% in 2023, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 33 years, from 1973 to 2023. The highest recorded value was 6.64% in 1999. The lowest was 3.43% in 1986 (about 1.5× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 0.18% per year.
New Zealand ranks 48 of 172 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 28%. The median for East Asia & Pacific is 4.25%, so New Zealand sits above it. It peaked in 1999 and has fallen 21% since. Over the last decade (2013–2023) the figure moved down 11%.
Key figures
Latest (2023)
5.21%
First (1973)
4.75%
Change
+9.7%
Highest
6.64%
in 1999
Lowest
3.43%
in 1986
Average
5.08%
Annual growth (CAGR)
0.18%
Years of data
33
Recent years
| Year | % of GDP |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 5.21% |
| 2022 | 5.17% |
| 2021 | 5.54% |
| 2020 | 5.64% |
| 2019 | 5.17% |
| 2018 | 5.19% |
| 2017 | 5.28% |
| 2016 | 5.5% |
| 2015 | 5.7% |
| 2014 | 5.8% |
| 2013 | 5.89% |
| 2000 | 5.6% |
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.