Tonga — Education spending
Government Education Spending (% of GDP) for Tonga, 1984–2022.
Education spending for Tonga was 5.31% in 2022, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 14 years, from 1984 to 2022. The highest recorded value was 10.35% in 1984. The lowest was 3.80% in 2002 (about 1.4× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to -1.74% per year.
Tonga ranks 42 of 172 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 24%. The median for East Asia & Pacific is 4.25%, so Tonga sits above it. It peaked in 1984 and has fallen 49% since. Over the last decade (2017–2022) the figure moved up 15%. Within East Asia & Pacific it ranks 7 of 25 economies; Timor-Leste (5.24%) is just below it. Its sharpest one-year move was down 47% in 1998. That is 7% above this series' own ten-year average.
Data highlights
World ranking. Slipped: 2nd of 57 in 1984 → 38th of 116 in 2000 → 57th of 157 in 2020 → 35th of 150 in 2022.
Key figures
Full history — 1984 to 2022
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.31% | +0.1 pp |
| 2021 | 5.16% | +0.1 pp |
| 2020 | 5.05% | +0.2 pp |
| 2019 | 4.86% | +0.1 pp |
| 2018 | 4.72% | +0.1 pp |
| 2017 | 4.64% | +0.7 pp |
| 2004 | 3.91% | -0.2 pp |
| 2003 | 4.16% | +0.4 pp |
| 2002 | 3.8% | -0.7 pp |
| 2001 | 4.48% | -0.4 pp |
| 2000 | 4.88% | -0.5 pp |
| 1999 | 5.38% | -0.1 pp |
| 1998 | 5.52% | -4.8 pp |
| 1984 | 10.35% | — |
Frequently asked questions
What was Tonga’s Education spending in 1998?
5.52% (1998). The full year-by-year table above lists every published year, most recent first.
Are changes in this series measured in percentage points?
Yes. The series is a share expressed in % of GDP, so year-over-year movements in the Change column are percentage points (pp), not percent.
Is Tonga’s Education spending growing or shrinking?
Between 1984 and 2022 the series was shrinking overall: -48.7% in total — about 1.7% a year compounded.
Where does this data come from?
World Bank Open Data (CC BY-4.0), indicator SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS. Values are reproduced as published; this page only computes summary statistics such as change, CAGR and extremes.
What are the most recent published figures?
The last five published years: 2022: 5.31%; 2021: 5.16%; 2020: 5.05%; 2019: 4.86%; 2018: 4.72%. Earlier years are in the full-history table below.
Related data
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.