Public spending on education as a share of GDP rose 4.65% to 6.19% in South Africa in 2020, according to World Bank.
Historically, public spending on education as a share of GDP in South Africa reached an all time high of 6.19% in 2020 and an all time low of 4.35% in 2003. When compared to South Africa's main peers, public spending on education as a share of GDP in Botswana amounted to 8.74%, 7.67% in Lesotho, 9.45% in Namibia and 5.34% in Swaziland in 2020.
South Africa has been ranked 23rd within the group of 140 countries we follow in terms of public spending on education as a share of GDP, 24 places above the position seen 10 years ago.
| Public Spending on Education (As % of GDP) | Unit | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| Angola | % | ... | ... | ... | ... | 3.49% | 2.75% | 2.47% | 2.04% | 1.93% | ... | |||||||||||
| Botswana | % | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 7.81% | 7.97% | 7.30% | 6.72% | 6.91% | ... | ||||
| Lesotho | % | ... | ... | ... | 9.00% | 7.76% | 8.16% | 7.29% | 7.99% | |||||||||||||
| Mozambique | % | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 6.01% | 5.87% | 5.51% | 5.45% | 6.08% | ... | |||||||||
| Namibia | % | ... | ... | ... | ... | 9.85% | 10.6% | 9.71% | 8.88% | 8.93% | ||||||||||||
| South Africa | % | 5.48% | 5.44% | 5.60% | 5.64% | 5.92% | ||||||||||||||||
| Swaziland | % | ... | 5.36% | 5.41% | 6.14% | 5.68% | 5.65% | |||||||||||||||
| Zambia | % | ... | ... | ... | ... | 4.62% | 3.75% | 3.73% | 4.74% | 4.47% | ... | |||||||||||
| Zimbabwe | % | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 5.81% | 5.47% | 5.82% | 3.87% | ... | ... | ... |
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