Funding trends

What are the important trends in education funding?

Included in total ODA to education is some funding that remains in donor countries to pay for scholarships and other ‘imputed student costs' associated with students from low- and middle-income countries studying in OECD countries. To get a more accurate picture of a donor’s cross-border flows of education, these costs must be subtracted from the totals below.

Top donors

Who are the top donors to education?

Note to avoid double-counting, the EU Institutions are not included as a donor in the ranking of total education ODA.

What are the top sectors in education?

What are the key debates and topics surrounding education?

Education and SDG#4 is frequently framed as a prerequisite for poverty reduction: Many low- and lower-middle-income countries rely on international support to fund domestic education systems, which are seen as long-term drivers of sustainable growth and development.

However, global education funding gaps have worsened following the COVID-19 pandemic, and UNESCO estimates that between 2023 and 2030 there will be an annual funding gap averaging US$97 billion in low- and lower-middle-income countries to achieve SDG#4.

Progress towards reaching  SDG#4 is coordinated through the  SDG4-Education 2030 High-Level Steering Committee, a global body for global multi-stakeholder consultation and coordination hosted by UNESCO.

Many actors in the global education space have aligned around the indicator of learning poverty: The Learning Poverty measure was developed by the World Bank and the :abbrUNESCO Institute for Statistics. For donors, addressing learning poverty means ensuring their programs support children to be able to read and understand a simple text by age 10. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic and related interruptions to the provision of education, learning poverty rates in 2019 were estimated to be 57% in low- and middle-income countries and 86% in Sub-Saharan Africa. Many donors have aimed to address this imbalance through support for foundational learning, which includes foundational literacy and numeracy.

Education typically features lower in donor agendas: Education is seen as a priority by many donors but often receives less attention and funding than topics like global health or climate. The inaugural TES, held in 2022, was organized to elevate education to the top of the global political agenda in response to a 'global education crisis' characterized by issues of equity, inclusion, and quality. More than 130 countries pledged to reform their education systems and accelerate action to end the crisis, but progress against these reforms have been slow to advance.

Education is often highlighted through intersections with other development topics, in part because of the ability to address inequalities from a younger age, and in part because the school often serves as a central location for delivering development programs. These intersections can include gender equality programs that focus on girls’ education, health programs such as immunization, or nutrition programs that leverage school feeding programs. There has also been an increasing interest in the climate-education nexus, though it does not yet feature strongly on agendas in national and international policy spaces.

The education sector has emerged as a frontrunner in adopting innovative finance mechanisms within global development, demonstrating notable progress compared to other sectors. Notably, several education-focused DIBs have been launched, often blending with bilateral donor support impact in the sector. A leading example is the Educate Girls DIB in India, which mobilized private capital to support out-of-school girls in rural Rajasthan, with returns linked to measurable educational achievements.