United Kingdom (2021)
5.9
% of GDP
+0.5pp YoY
YoY Change
+0.5pp
percentage points
Trend
up
Series length
46
years of data

Data

United Kingdom Government Expenditure on Education (% of GDP) (2021) — source data. World Bank.
Year % of GDP Change
2021 5.9 +0.5pp
2020 5.4 +0.1pp
2019 5.3 +0.1pp
2018 5.2 -0.3pp
2017 5.5 +0.1pp
2016 5.4 -0.2pp
2015 5.6 unchanged
2014 5.6 +0.1pp
2013 5.5 -0.1pp
2011 5.6 -0.1pp
2010 5.7 +0.6pp
2009 5.1 +0.2pp
2008 4.9 unchanged
2007 4.9 -0.1pp
2006 5 +0.1pp
2005 4.9 +0.2pp
2004 4.7 -0.1pp
2003 4.8 +0.2pp
2002 4.6 +0.5pp
2001 4.1 +0.1pp

About this Dataset

United Kingdom recorded 5.9 % of GDP in 2021. The latest change was +0.5pp. Across 1971–2021 the series ranges from 4 in 1999 to 6.4 in 1976.

This page tracks government expenditure on education as a share of GDP in United Kingdom from 1990 to present. Education spending shapes future human capital quality, productivity growth, and workforce skill depth.

Data sourced from World Bank via Open Data API. Values use World Bank standardised methodology intended for cross-country comparison.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page tracks government expenditure on education as a share of GDP in United Kingdom from 1990 to present. Education spending shapes future human capital quality, productivity growth, and workforce skill depth. It is published by World Bank and updated annually.

The most recent observation covers 2021. World Bank typically publishes this series with a lag of several months after the reference period. The series runs 1971–2021 (46 observations).

The series peaked at 6.4 % of GDP in 1976 and reached its lowest recorded value of 4 in 1999. The latest reading of 5.9 in 2021 represents a change of +0.5pp.