Education and Children: Where the United States Stands in the World Data

Education and Children in Five Numbers

This slideshow steps through five World Bank education indicators, one frame per indicator. Each frame shows the ranking of countries, the value and rank for the United States, and how the US figure has moved over the reported years. All figures come from the World Bank's World Development Indicators.

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Government spending on education	43	US government spending on education is 5.4204% of GDP, #43 of 203
Children out of primary school	103	3.9822% of US primary-school-age children are recorded out of school, #103 of 205
Tertiary enrolment	31	US tertiary enrolment is 79.3619% gross, #31 of 203
Secondary school enrolment	75	US secondary enrolment is 97.4735% gross, #75 of 208
Pupils per teacher (primary)	57	US primary classes average 14.1986 pupils per teacher, #57 of 206

Read each frame on its own: units differ (percent of GDP, percent of an age group, pupils per teacher), the number of countries ranked differs from 203 to 208, and reference years are not the same across indicators. Do not compare a value or a rank in one frame with a value or rank in another.

Key points

Across this set of education indicators, the United States sits comfortably above the world level on money and on how many young people reach college, but not on whether every primary-age child is actually in school. Government spending on education is 5.4204% of GDP, ranking 43rd of 203 countries and well above the world value of 3.5693%. Tertiary enrolment is 79.3619% (31st of 203) against a world value of 43.6151%, and primary classrooms average 14.1986 pupils per teacher versus 23.4463 worldwide. The outlier is the share of primary-school-age children out of school: 3.9822%, which places the US 103rd of 205 countries, behind the UK (0.0698%), South Korea (0.0557%), Japan (0.0684%), France (0.2044%) and Germany (0.2739%).

*Sources: World Bank (world_bank_wdi) — "Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP)", "Children out of school (% of primary school age)", "School enrollment, tertiary (% gross)", "Pupil-teacher ratio, primary".*

The central indicator at its latest reading

The lead indicator here is government spending on education as a share of GDP. The United States reports 5.4204%, ranking 43rd among 203 countries and standing about 1.85 percentage points above the world value of 3.5693%. The US series in this dataset runs through 2021, so the figure reflects that reporting year rather than a current-year estimate. This is a government-expenditure measure, so it captures public budgets at all levels of government and not what households pay in tuition or other private outlays — a distinction that matters more in the US than in many countries.

*Source: World Bank, "Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP)" — https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS*

Top and bottom of the table

The top of the education-spending table is dominated by small island and small-economy states: Kiribati 16.3905%, American Samoa 14.717%, Tuvalu 12.8457% and Micronesia 11.5591%, followed by Namibia 9.0844%, Algeria 8.9777% and Cuba 8.4409%. In economies of that size, a modest school budget can be a large share of GDP, so a high ratio is not by itself evidence of a stronger school system. At the other end sit Somalia 0.0%, Nigeria 0.3191%, Zimbabwe 0.3848%, Papua New Guinea 0.7821% and Haiti 0.9646%, with Lebanon 1.2249%, Laos 1.2338% and Indonesia 1.2752% just above them. The United States, at 5.4204% and 43rd, falls in the upper quarter of the table but far below the island-state leaders. On out-of-school children the picture is different: the leaders are the United Arab Emirates (0.0039%), Azerbaijan (0.0266%), Uruguay (0.0355%), South Korea (0.0557%) and Japan (0.0684%), while the bottom is Somalia (85.2728%), Afghanistan (68.7716%) and Equatorial Guinea (65.5965%); the US at 3.9822% lands in the middle of that distribution, closer to the median than to the leaders.

*Sources: World Bank, "Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP)"; "Children out of school (% of primary school age)".*

How it has changed over the past decade

US education spending moved within a narrow band before rising at the end of the series: 4.9306% in 2015, 4.7833% in 2016, 5.093% in 2017, 4.895% in 2018 and 4.9575% in 2019, then 5.3953% in 2020 and 5.4204% in 2021 — about 0.49 points higher than in 2015. Tertiary enrolment moved the other way. It was 88.8894% in 2015 and stayed near 88% through 2018 (88.2992%), then eased to 87.5677% in 2020, 84.8551% in 2021 and 79.3619% in 2022 — roughly 9.5 points below the 2015 reading and lower than the 80.6348% recorded back in 2005. Secondary enrolment climbed steadily from 96.1865% in 2013 to a peak of 101.1925% in 2021 before the 2022 reading of 97.4735%. The out-of-school share was 0.36% in 2016 and 0.5742% in 2018, then rose to 2.0051% in 2020, 4.0951% in 2021 and 3.9822% in 2022. Pupils per teacher has only three points in this dataset — 14.5375 in 2014, 14.4572 in 2015 and 14.1986 in 2017 — so it cannot be read as a decade-long trend.

*Sources: World Bank, "Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP)"; "School enrollment, tertiary (% gross)"; "School enrollment, secondary (% gross)"; "Children out of school (% of primary school age)"; "Pupil-teacher ratio, primary".*

Comparison with similar countries

Against other large economies, US education spending of 5.4204% is close to the middle of the group: the UK is higher at 5.9068% (32nd), while South Korea is 5.4091%, France 5.3243%, Germany 5.2392%, China 3.8971% and Japan 3.3366% (136th). The gap to the UK is about 0.49 points; the gap to Japan is about 2.08 points. On tertiary enrolment the US at 79.3619% trails South Korea (111.8533%) by more than 32 points and the UK (80.4146%) narrowly, while leading China (76.8758%), Germany (76.7097%), France (71.5347%) and Japan (64.4908%). In secondary enrolment the US reading of 97.4735% (75th) is the second-lowest of this group, below the UK 112.12%, France 103.7854%, Japan 101.5371% and Germany 100.2437%, and above South Korea 96.254% and China 92.2603%. Class size is a relative strength: 14.1986 pupils per teacher beats the UK 15.1327, Japan 15.661, South Korea 16.2867, China 16.4267 and France 18.1766, though Germany is lower at 12.3028. Within the Americas, Uruguay (0.0355%) and Chile — 110.1769% tertiary enrolment — and Argentina (107.8226%) show that several countries in the hemisphere post stronger readings than the US on specific measures, while Haiti sits at the bottom on spending (0.9646%), secondary enrolment (17.1656%) and tertiary enrolment (1.0514%).

*Sources: World Bank, "Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP)"; "School enrollment, tertiary (% gross)"; "School enrollment, secondary (% gross)"; "Pupil-teacher ratio, primary"; "Children out of school (% of primary school age)".*

How to read these numbers

Spending is measured as government expenditure relative to GDP, so it excludes tuition and other spending borne by households — a lower or higher ratio does not translate directly into total resources per student or into quality. The enrolment figures are gross ratios: they count everyone enrolled regardless of age, including students outside the standard age range, which is why values above 100% appear (Monaco 158.5466% and Greece 165.1134%, and the US secondary readings of 100.0634%, 100.5098% and 101.1925% in 2019–2021). A gross ratio above 100% is not a statement that every child is enrolled. The out-of-school indicator has no world value in this dataset, so no comparison to a global average is possible here, and its rank covers only the countries that reported. Reference years also differ by indicator — the US spending series ends in 2021, enrolment and out-of-school readings run to 2022, and pupils per teacher to 2017 — so figures should not be treated as a single synchronised snapshot. These series are published annually through the World Bank's World Development Indicators, and historical values can be revised as countries resubmit data, which is reason to treat small rank changes cautiously rather than as movement.

*Sources: World Bank (world_bank_wdi), "Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP)"; "Children out of school (% of primary school age)"; "School enrollment, tertiary (% gross)"; "School enrollment, secondary (% gross)"; "Pupil-teacher ratio, primary".*

Government spending on education on the map and in charts

The table is led by small economies — Kiribati 16.3905%, American Samoa 14.717%, Tuvalu 12.8457% — and closes with Somalia 0.0%, Nigeria 0.3191% and Zimbabwe 0.3848%. The US sits in the upper quarter at 5.4204%.

The bars span more than 16 percentage points, so the leaders are far above the middle of the table. The US line drifts near 4.8–5.1% through 2019 and then rises to 5.3953% in 2020 and 5.4204% in 2021.

Compare countries

Children out of primary school

The United Arab Emirates heads the ranking at 0.0039%, followed by Azerbaijan (0.027%) and Uruguay (0.036%); Somalia closes it at 85.27%, behind Afghanistan (68.77%) and Equatorial Guinea (65.60%). Every large peer is ahead of the US here, from South Korea (0.056%, rank 4) and Japan (0.068%, rank 5) to Germany (0.27%) and France (0.20%), with only China (6.68%, rank 131) behind.

The US series runs from 2005 to 2022 and is not a smooth line: it dips to 0.36% in 2016, then climbs to 4.10% in 2021 before easing to 3.98% in 2022. No world value is published for this indicator, so the peer bars and the top and bottom lists are the reference points.

Tertiary enrolment

Greece tops the table at 165.11%, ahead of Macao (141.86%) and Cyprus (120.88%), while Haiti sits last at 1.05% behind French Polynesia (1.46%). Among peers South Korea (111.85%, rank 5) and the UK (80.41%, rank 28) are ahead of the US, with Germany (76.71%), China (76.88%), France (71.53%) and Japan (64.49%) behind.

The US line runs from 1999 to 2022 and peaks at 88.89% in 2015 before falling to 84.86% in 2021 and 79.36% in 2022 — a decline of nearly ten points in two years. Because the ratio is gross rather than net, values above 100% elsewhere in the table are not enrolment of more than everyone.

Secondary school enrolment

Monaco leads at 158.55%, followed by Belgium (142.96%) and Finland (142.40%); Somalia is last at 3.35%, below the Central African Republic (15.81%) and Haiti (17.17%). Among peers the UK (112.12%, rank 24), France (103.79%), Japan (101.54%) and Germany (100.24%) all rank above the US, while South Korea (96.25%) and China (92.26%) fall below.

From 1999 to 2022 the US series climbs steadily from 94.32% to a peak of 101.19% in 2021, then drops to 97.47% in 2022. A rank far from the top does not mean a low enrolment rate here — it means the countries above are packed close together and many exceed 100%.

Pupils per teacher (primary)

San Marino has the lowest ratio at 6.93, ahead of Liechtenstein (7.80) and Luxembourg (8.30), while the Central African Republic is last at 83.41, behind Rwanda (59.51) and Malawi (58.68). Only Germany (12.30, rank 36) among the peers shown has fewer pupils per teacher than the US; Japan (15.66), South Korea (16.29), China (16.43) and France (18.18) all have more.

The US has just three data points — 14.54 in 2014, 14.46 in 2015 and 14.20 in 2017 — so the line shows a slow decline rather than a detailed history. Note that this indicator's latest year is 2019, unlike the other frames, so its snapshot is not contemporaneous with them.