The level of government spending on education helps reveal the priorities a country sets for itself. However, comparing only the absolute amounts of budget expenditures can be misleading.

Small island nations hold the leading positions in the global ranking. Kiribati allocates 16.4% of GDP to education, Tuvalu — 12.9%, and the Federated States of Micronesia — 11.6%.

Among larger countries, Namibia stands out in particular, spending 9.1% of GDP, and Algeria — 9.0%. This shows that a high level of investment in education is not unique to wealthy states.

If we look at the world’s 40 largest economies, Sweden ranks first, allocating 7.3% of GDP to education, according to Naked Science. It is followed by Denmark (6.4%) and Belgium (6.3%). Other major economies with the highest education spending include the United Kingdom (5.9%), Brazil (5.6%), the United States (5.4%), and South Korea (5.4%).

The level of economic development alone does not explain the differences in education spending. Among the world’s largest economies, there are both countries that devote very large sums to education and states with relatively modest budgets.

For example, Sweden and Denmark allocate more than 6% of GDP to education, while Singapore spends only 2.2%, Ireland — 2.9%, and Japan — 3.3%.

Some developing countries invest an even larger share of their economies in education than many wealthier states. For example, Brazil allocates 5.6% of GDP for these purposes, while South Africa — 6.0%.