Spending on Public Primary and Secondary Education: We’re Number 4 and We’re Number 5

The United States spends a considerable amount of money on public primary and secondary education, both in terms of per student expenditures and percentage of GDP. In terms of public spending on education, per student in both primary and secondary schools, the United States ranks 4th among selected OECD countries. The most recent data available is from 2019 and shows that the US spends $13,780 per pupil in Primary grades and $15,538 in Secondary, Post-Secondary Non-Tertiary grades and programs, for a total of $29,318. Norway, South Korea, and Austria spend more per pupil.

On a per capita basis, the United States ranks 5th, spending 8.3 percent of its GDP on primary and secondary education. Chile, Israel, South Korea, and the United Kingdom invest a higher percentage of their GDP on education than the United States.

Source: Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/238733/expenditure-on-education-by-country/; “How Do Governments Allocate Public Spending on Education?” OECD, July 12, 2022, https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/en/data-insights/how-do-governments-allocate-public-spending-on-education