India Allocated 4.6% of GDP to Education from 2015 to 2024: UNESCO
According to a recent UNESCO report, India allocated approximately 4.1% to 4.6% of its GDP to education between 2015 and 2024. This investment aligns with the international benchmarks set by the UN’s ‘Education 2030 Framework for Action,’ which recommends that countries dedicate 4-6% of their GDP to education.
During the same period, government spending on education ranged from 13.5% to 17.2% of total expenditure, as detailed in a series of reports from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics focusing on global education investment trends. These reports emphasize the need to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which aims for inclusive and equitable quality education.
The data indicates that India has made significant strides in education funding, surpassing many other countries in Central and Southern Asia. While South Asian nations like Nepal and Bhutan allocate around 4-6% of their GDP to education, countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan lag in both spending and resource allocation.
The report also highlighted a global trend of declining investment in education as a percentage of total expenditure. In fact, the world average for public expenditure on education fell from 13.2% in 2010 to 12.5% in 2020.
In 2022, India’s expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP ranked lower only than Bhutan (7.5%), Kazakhstan (7.2%), Maldives (4.7%), Tajikistan (5.7%), and Uzbekistan (5.2%) within Central and Southern Asia. Notably, India’s education spending exceeds that of countries like China and Japan, underscoring its commitment to enhancing educational outcomes.
