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Revisiting education expenditures and price levels: new data from the International Comparison Program

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Two years ago, we published a blog looking at how much economies across the world spend on education and how the price level of education varies. Today – on International Education Day 2025 – we revisit this theme using new data from the International Comparison Program (ICP). These data are based on purchasing power parities (PPPs), which convert different currencies to a common currency and control for differences in price levels between economies and enable comparisons of economic output or volume. 

Education is a human right and universal access to education – the focus of  Sustainable Development Goal 4 – remains one of the strongest instruments for reducing poverty and improving health, gender equality, peace, and stability. Past studies indicate that more government spending on education can increase enrolment and improve outcomes if targeted correctly, but when households are responsible for fees and those costs rise, many children drop out of education.

Results from the ICP 2021 cycle, published in May 2024, provide a new suite of data on the relative price levels of education across the globe, and what is spent on education - not only by governments, but also by households and nonprofit institutions that serve households. Scroll through the visual story below to see data by region and income group and across the two most recent ICP cycles, 2017 and 2021. 


Edie Purdie

Consultant, Development Data Group (DECDG), World Bank

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