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Sri Lanka — Education spending
Government Education Spending (% of GDP) for Sri Lanka, 1973–2023.
Latest value · 2023
1.83%
Government Education Spending (% of GDP) · % of GDP · -44.9% since 1973
Education spending for Sri Lanka was 1.83% in 2023, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 33 years, from 1973 to 2023. The highest recorded value was 3.34% in 1996. The lowest was 1.20% in 2022 (about 1.5× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to -1.18% per year.
Sri Lanka ranks 165 of 172 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 96%. The median for South Asia is 4.10%, so Sri Lanka sits below it. It peaked in 1996 and has fallen 45% since. Over the last decade (2013–2023) the figure moved up 17%.
Key figures
Latest (2023)
1.83%
First (1973)
3.32%
Change
-44.9%
Highest
3.34%
in 1996
Lowest
1.20%
in 2022
Average
2.38%
Annual growth (CAGR)
-1.18%
Years of data
33
Recent years
| Year | % of GDP |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.83% |
| 2022 | 1.2% |
| 2021 | 1.51% |
| 2020 | 1.56% |
| 2018 | 1.99% |
| 2017 | 2.59% |
| 2016 | 3.23% |
| 2015 | 2.11% |
| 2014 | 1.86% |
| 2013 | 1.56% |
| 2012 | 1.45% |
| 2011 | 1.74% |
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.