Total public direct expenditures on education as a percentage of the gross domestic product, by level and country: Selected years, 1985 through 2005

(337KB)

Table 419.

Country	All institutions							Primary and secondary institutions											Higher education institutions
Country	1985	1990	1995	2000¹	2003¹	2004¹	2005¹	1985	1990	1995	2000¹		2003¹		2004¹		2005¹		1985	1990	1995	2000¹		2003¹		2004¹		2005¹
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12		13		14		15		16	17	18	19		20		21		22
Average for OECD countries	5.3	4.9	4.9	5.2	5.3	5.0	5.0	3.7	3.5	3.5	3.5		3.7		3.5		3.5		1.1	1.0	0.9	1.2		1.1		1.1		1.0
Average for all countries listed	5.3	4.9	4.9	5.1	5.3	5.0	4.9	3.7	3.5	3.5	3.5		3.7		3.5		3.5		1.1	1.0	0.9	1.2		1.1		1.0		1.0
OECD countries
Australia	5.4	4.3	4.5	5.1	4.3	4.3	4.3	3.5	3.2	3.2	3.9		3.4		3.5		3.4		1.7	1.0	1.2	1.2		0.8		0.8		0.8
Austria	5.6	5.2	5.3	5.8	5.2	5.0	5.2	3.7	3.6	3.8	3.8	²	3.7		3.6		3.5		1.0	1.0	0.9	1.4	²	1.1		1.1		1.2
Belgium (Flemish)	6.3	4.8	5.0	5.2	5.9	5.8	5.8	4.0	3.4	3.4	3.4	³	4.0		4.0		3.9		1.0	0.8	0.9	1.3	³	1.2		1.2		1.2
Canada	6.1	5.4	5.8	5.5	—	4.7	—	4.1	3.7	4.0	3.3	⁴	—		3.2	⁴	—		2.0	1.5	1.5	2.0	⁴	—		1.4	⁴	—
Czech Republic	(⁵)	(⁵)	4.8	4.4	4.3	4.2	4.1	(⁵)	(⁵)	3.4	3.0	³	2.9		2.8		2.7		(⁵)	(⁵)	0.7	0.8	³	0.9		0.9		0.8

Denmark	6.2	6.2	6.5	8.4	6.7	6.9	6.8	4.7	4.4	4.2	4.8	^2,6	4.1	⁶	4.2	⁶	4.4	⁶	1.2	1.3	1.3	2.5	^2,6	1.7	⁶	1.8	⁶	1.6	⁶
Finland	5.8	6.4	6.6	6.0	6.0	6.0	5.9	—	4.3	4.2	3.6		3.9		3.9		3.8		—	1.2	1.7	2.0		1.7		1.7		1.7
France	—	5.1	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.7	5.6	—	3.7	4.1	4.1		4.0		3.9		3.8		—	0.8	1.0	1.0		1.1		1.2		1.1
Germany⁷	4.6	—	4.5	4.5	4.4	4.3	4.2	2.8	—	2.9	3.0		2.9		2.8		2.8		1.0	—	1.0	1.1		1.0		1.0		0.9
Greece	—	—	3.7	3.8	4.0	3.3	4.0	—	—	2.8	2.7	²	2.6	⁸	2.1	⁸	2.5	⁸	—	—	0.8	0.9	²	1.2		1.1		1.4

Hungary	—	5.0	4.9	4.9	5.5	5.1	5.1	—	3.5	3.3	3.1		3.5		3.3		3.3		—	0.8	0.8	1.0		1.0		0.9		0.9
Iceland	—	4.3	4.5	6.0	7.5	7.2	7.2	—	3.3	3.4	4.7	²	5.2	⁶	5.2	⁶	5.2	⁶	—	0.6	0.7	1.1	²	1.1	⁶	1.1	⁶	1.1	⁶
Ireland	5.6	4.7	4.7	4.4	4.1	4.3	4.3	4.0	3.3	3.3	3.0	³	3.1		3.3		3.3		0.9	0.9	0.9	1.3	³	1.0		1.0		1.0
Italy	4.7	5.8	4.5	4.6	4.6	4.4	4.3	3.2	4.1	3.2	3.2		3.5		3.3		3.2		0.6	1.0	0.7	0.8		0.7		0.7		0.6
Japan	—	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.5	3.5	3.4	—	2.9	2.8	2.7	⁶	2.7	⁶	2.7	⁶	2.6	⁶	—	0.4	0.4	0.5	⁶	0.5	⁶	0.5	⁶	0.5	⁶

Korea, Republic of	—	—	3.6	4.3	4.6	4.4	4.3	—	—	3.0	3.3		3.5		3.5		3.4		—	—	0.3	0.7		0.6		0.5		0.6
Luxembourg	—	—	4.3	—	—	—	—	—	—	4.2	—		4.0	⁸	3.8	⁸	3.7	⁸	—	—	0.1	—		—		—		—
Mexico	—	3.2	4.6	4.9	5.6	5.2	5.3	—	2.2	3.4	3.4		3.8		3.6		3.7		—	0.7	0.8	0.9		0.9		0.9		0.9
Netherlands	6.2	5.7	4.6	4.8	4.6	4.6	4.6	4.1	3.6	3.0	3.2		3.2		3.3		3.3		1.5	1.6	1.1	1.3		1.1		1.0		1.0
New Zealand	—	5.5	5.3	7.0	5.7	5.6	5.2	—	3.9	3.8	4.9		4.5		4.4		4.0		—	1.2	1.1	1.7		0.9		0.9		0.9

Norway	5.1	6.2	6.8	6.7	6.5	6.2	5.7	4.0	4.1	4.1	3.9		4.6		4.2		3.8		0.7	1.1	1.5	1.7		1.5		1.4		1.3
Poland	—	—	5.2	5.2	5.8	5.4	5.4	—	—	3.3	3.8	²	4.2		3.7		3.7		—	—	0.8	0.8	²	1.0		1.1		1.2
Portugal	—	—	5.4	5.7	5.8	5.3	5.3	—	—	4.1	4.2	²	4.2		3.8		3.8		—	—	1.0	1.0	²	1.0		0.9		0.9
Slovak Republic	(⁵)	(⁵)	4.6	4.2	4.3	4.0	3.7	(⁵)	(⁵)	—	2.7	^2,3	2.8	⁹	2.6	⁹	2.5	⁹	(⁵)	(⁵)	—	0.7	^2,3	0.8	⁹	0.9	⁹	0.7	⁹
Spain	3.6	4.2	4.8	4.4	4.2	4.2	4.1	2.9	3.2	3.5	3.1		2.8		2.8		2.7		0.4	0.7	0.8	1.0		0.9		0.9		0.9

Sweden	—	5.3	6.6	7.4	6.5	6.5	6.2	—	4.4	4.4	4.9	³	4.5		4.5		4.2		—	1.0	1.6	2.0	³	1.6		1.6		1.5
Switzerland	4.9	5.0	5.5	5.4	6.0	5.9	5.6	4.0	3.7	4.1	3.9		4.0		3.9		3.9		0.9	1.0	1.1	1.2		1.6		1.6		1.4
Turkey	—	3.2	2.2	3.5	—	3.8	—	—	2.3	1.4	2.4	²	—		2.9		—		—	0.9	0.8	1.1	²	1.1		0.9		—
United Kingdom	4.9	4.3	4.6	4.8	5.1	5.0	5.0	3.1	3.5	3.8	3.4		4.0		3.8		3.8		1.0	0.7	0.7	1.0		0.8		0.8		0.9
United States	4.7	5.3	5.0	5.0	5.4	5.1	4.8	3.2	3.8	3.5	3.5	⁴	3.9		3.7		3.5		1.3	1.4	1.1	1.1	⁴	1.2		1.0		1.0

Reporting partner economies
Brazil	—	—	—	—	—	3.9	4.4	—	—	—	—		—		2.9	⁹	3.3		—	—	—	—		—		0.7	⁹	0.8
Chile	—	—	—	—	—	3.5	3.3	—	—	—	—		—		2.8		2.7		—	—	—	—		—		0.3		0.3
Estonia	(⁵)	(⁵)	—	—	—	4.9	4.7	(⁵)	(⁵)	—	—		—		3.7		3.5		(⁵)	(⁵)	—	—		—		0.9		0.9
Israel	—	—	—	—	7.0	6.6	6.2	—	—	—	—		4.6		4.4		4.2		—	—	—	—		1.3		1.1		1.0
Russian Federation	(⁵)	(⁵)	3.4	3.0	3.7	3.6	3.8	(⁵)	(⁵)	1.9	1.7		2.1		2.0		1.9		(⁵)	(⁵)	0.7	0.5		0.7		0.7		0.8
Slovenia	(⁵)	(⁵)	—	—	—	5.4	5.3	(⁵)	(⁵)	—	—		—		3.9		3.9		(⁵)	(⁵)	—	—		—		1.1		1.0

— Not available.
¹ Includes public subsidies to households attributable for educational institutions and direct expenditure on educational institutions from international sources, except where noted.
² Public subsidies to households not included in public expenditure.
³ Direct expenditure on education institutions from international sources exceeds 1.5 percent of all public expenditure.
⁴ Postsecondary non-higher-education included in higher education.
⁵ Country did not exist in its current form in the given year.
⁶ Postsecondary non-higher-education included in both secondary and higher education.
⁷ Data for 1985 are for the former West Germany.
⁸ Preprimary education (for children age 3 and older) is included in primary and secondary education.
⁹ Occupation-specific education corresponding to that offered at the associate's degree level in the United States is included in primary and secondary education.
NOTE: Direct public expenditure on educational services includes both amounts spent directly by governments to hire Educational personnel and to procure other resources, and amounts provided by governments to public or private institutions, or households. Figures for 1985 also include transfers and payments to private entities, and thus are not strictly comparable with later figures. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Education Online Database; Annual National Accounts, Vol. 1, 1997; and Education at a Glance, 2006 through 2008. (This table was prepared August 2008.)

2008 Tables and Figures

All Years of Tables and Figures

Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Download Excel Excel format

(337KB)