Indonesia has been recorded as the country with the lowest education budget allocation among the world’s 40 largest economies when measured as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The latest data show that Indonesia allocates only 1.3 percent of its GDP to the education sector, far below the majority of countries, which generally invest between 4 and 6 percent of their GDP in education.
The data place Indonesia at the bottom of the 40 largest economies in terms of the proportion of education spending relative to GDP. Moreover, in a ranking covering 181 countries, Indonesia stands 174th.
Countries with the Highest Education Spending
Globally, Kiribati allocates the largest share of its GDP to education. Among the world’s 40 largest economies, Sweden ranks first.
Countries with the highest education budget allocations:
- Kiribati: 16.4% of GDP (highest in the world)
- Sweden: 7.3% of GDP (highest among the 40 largest economies)
- Denmark: 6.4%
- Belgium: 6.3%
- South Africa: 6.0%
- Israel: 5.9%
- United Kingdom: 5.9%
- Brazil: 5.6%
- Norway: 5.4%
- United States: 5.4%
- South Korea: 5.4%
Countries with the Lowest Education Spending
Conversely, several countries continue to allocate a relatively small share of their GDP to education. Indonesia records the lowest percentage among the world’s 40 largest economies.
Countries with the lowest education budget allocations among the 40 largest economies:
- Indonesia: 1.3% of GDP (population aged 24 and below: 40.2%)
- Pakistan: 2.0%
- Bangladesh: 2.0%
- Singapore: 2.2%
- Thailand: 2.5%
- Vietnam: 2.9%
- Ireland: 2.9%
- Türkiye: 3.1%
- Romania: 3.3%
- Japan: 3.3%
Why Education Spending Is Measured as a Percentage of GDP
Comparing education expenditure as a percentage of GDP is considered more representative than comparing budget figures in nominal terms. This is because countries have different economic sizes, meaning that nominal spending alone does not necessarily reflect a government’s level of commitment to education.
In addition to the size of a country’s economy, education spending is influenced by various other factors, including government policy, demographic structure, and each nation’s fiscal capacity.
Although the share of the education budget is not the sole indicator of the success of an education system, it remains an important measure of a country’s development priorities.
Amid Indonesia’s ongoing educational challenges—including improving learning quality, expanding equitable access, transforming the curriculum, and strengthening the competencies of educators—the level of investment in education will continue to attract attention, as it is directly linked to the country’s efforts to develop highly skilled and globally competitive human resources for the future.***
