How Should We Measure “Spending Money on Education”?
When comparing how much importance countries place on education internationally, the most commonly used measure is “government expenditure on education as a share of gross domestic product (GDP).” Because it looks at the ratio relative to the size of the economy rather than the amount itself, countries with different-sized economies can still be compared. The World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI) include this indicator for 203 countries and regions.
The latest global figure is 3.57%. In other words, the average country allocates about 3.6% of its entire economy to government education spending.
Japan Ranks 136th out of 203
Japan’s figure is 3.34%, placing it 136th among 203 countries and regions. It is slightly below the global figure of 3.57%, and its ranking is below the midpoint. This is somewhat different from the position one might imagine from the phrase “education powerhouse.”
However, it is important to note that this indicator measures only what governments spend. Household spending on cram schools and university tuition is not included. In countries such as Japan, where private spending accounts for a large share, looking only at this indicator underestimates the amount of money being devoted to education.
Small Countries Dominate the Top of the Rankings
At the top, Pacific island countries and territories occupy the leading positions: Kiribati ranks 1st at 16.39%, American Samoa 2nd at 14.72%, and Tuvalu 3rd at 12.85%. One reason is that, in countries with small populations, simply maintaining a single school can represent a large share of the economy. A high ratio does not necessarily mean that education is well developed.
At the opposite end are Somalia (0.00%), Nigeria (0.32%), and Zimbabwe (0.38%), where either statistics are unavailable or government spending itself is extremely small. The gap between the top and bottom is more than 40-fold, so this indicator does not describe a distribution that can be summed up by “one average figure.”
Japan Ranks among the World’s Best in School Enrollment
Although Japan’s spending ranking is around the middle, its position changes when we look at whether children actually attend school.
The share of children not attending primary school is 0.07%, the 5th lowest among 205 countries and regions. This puts Japan just behind the United Arab Emirates in 1st place (0.004%), Azerbaijan in 2nd (0.027%), and Uruguay in 3rd (0.036%). At the bottom are Somalia (85.27%), Afghanistan (68.77%), and Equatorial Guinea (65.60%), meaning that there are countries where more than half of primary-school-age children are outside the school system.
The secondary school enrollment rate is 101.54%, ranking 57th out of 208 countries and far exceeding the global figure of 77.28%. The tertiary school enrollment rate is 64.49%, ranking 60th out of 203 countries and more than 20 percentage points above the global figure of 43.62%.
How to Interpret Enrollment Rates Above 100%
Secondary school enrollment can exceed 100% because this indicator is the gross enrollment ratio. The denominator is the population of the age group corresponding to that level, while the numerator is the number of enrolled students regardless of age. As a result, the figure can exceed 100% when students repeat grades, skip grades, or return to education after the typical age. Monaco, ranked 1st (158.55%), Belgium, ranked 2nd (142.96%), and Finland, ranked 3rd (142.40%), also exceed 100% for the same reason. The figure does not mean that “everyone is attending school.”
The Number of Children per Teacher
Another indicator showing educational conditions is the pupil-teacher ratio. It represents how many children there are per teacher in primary school. Japan has 15.66 pupils per teacher, ranking 74th among 206 countries and regions, fewer than the global figure of 23.45. The top positions are held by San Marino (6.93 pupils), Liechtenstein (7.80), and Luxembourg (8.30), all of which have small populations. At the bottom are the Central African Republic (83.41), Rwanda (59.51), and Malawi (58.68), with some countries having more than 80 children assigned to a single teacher.
Spending and Outcomes Do Not Produce the Same Rankings
Taken together, the picture for Japan is this: its share of government spending is below the global midpoint, while its school enrollment and teacher staffing are among the best in the world. Spending rankings and outcome rankings do not match.
The height of the ratio is strongly influenced by factors such as the small size of an economy and the extent of private financial responsibility. By contrast, enrollment rates and the number of pupils per teacher are closer to showing how a country’s education system is actually functioning. It is difficult to determine which countries “spend money on education” based on a single indicator; only by comparing spending, enrollment, and staffing can we understand their relative positions.
Sources
- Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP) (World Bank World Development Indicators SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS)
- Children out of school (% of primary school age) (same source, SE.PRM.UNER.ZS)
- School enrollment, secondary (% gross) (same source, SE.SEC.ENRR)
- School enrollment, tertiary (% gross) (same source, SE.TER.ENRR)
- Pupil-teacher ratio, primary (same source, SE.PRM.ENRL.TC.ZS)
All figures are based on the latest year available for each indicator. The pupil-teacher ratio is for 2019; the others are for 2025.