In 2000 UK education spending was less than £42.7 billion, and education spending was increasing steadily, year on year, reaching £91.5 billion in 2011. Since then the education budget has remained steady at about £85 billion per year. For the year ending March 2020 education spending was £87.0 billion.

In terms of Gross Domestic Product UK education spending was 4.4 percent of GDP in 2000, and steadily increased as a percent of GDP till the peak year of 2010 when education spending was 5.8 percent of GDP. Since the Great Recession, education spending been in steady decline, descending to 4.4 percent GDP in 2017. For the year ending March 2020 education spending was 3.9 percent GDP.

UK Education Since World War II

Chart S.23t: UK Education since 1947

After World War II UK education spending increased rapidly, peaking at 4 percent of GDP in 1949 before being sharply reduced to 3.3 percent GDP in 1951.

Starting in 1956 education spending began a long increase, reaching 5.35 percent GDP in 1968. It then resumed a slower growth, reaching 5.6 percent of GDP in 1973 before blowing off at 6.5 percent GDP in 1975 in the inflation of the 1970s.

Starting in 1976, at 6.1 percent GDP education began a secular decline through 15 years that bottomed out in 1989 at 4.2 percent of GDP. Education spending then rose to 4.9 percent GDP in 1995 before declining to 4.4 percent GDP in 2000.

In the 2000s education spending increased as a percent of GDP, peaking at 5.8 percent GDP. After the Great Recession education spending has declined to 4.4 percent GDP in 2017.

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Spending Data Sources

Expenditure data since 1983 comes from HM Treasury’s Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis reports.

Detailed table of spending data sources here.

Gross Domestic Product data comes from measuringworth.com.

Central government spending data begins in 1692.

Local authority spending data begins in 1868.

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Data Sources for 2011_2021:

Sources for 2011:

GDP: OBR EFO supp. economy tables
Spending: HM Treasury PESA
Debt: OBR Public Finances Databank

Sources for 2021:

GDP: OBR EFO supp. economy tables
Spending: HM Treasury PESA
Debt: OBR Public Finances Databank

> spending data sources for other years

UK Revenue and Deficit Forecast -- March 2021

On March 3 2021 we updated UK revenue forecast data for 2019-20 to 2024-25 from the Office of Budget Responsibility's March 2021 Economic and fiscal outlook report Table 3.4 Current Receipts in tab "T3.4" a spreadsheet file labeled "March 2021 Economic and fiscal outlook -- charts and tables: Chapter 3".

The following table shows the "COVID effect" on UK government revenues.

**UK Government Revenue Forecast**
2020-21 Forecast	March 2020 £ billion	March 2021 £ billion
Central Government	£822.3	£740.0
Local Authorities	£50.6	£46.3
Total UK Revenue	£872.9	£786.3

On March 3, 2020 we updated UK deficit forecast data for 2019-20 to 2024-25 from the Office of Budget Responsibility's March 2021 Economic and fiscal outlook report Table 3.5 Components of Net Borrowing in tab "3.5" in a spreadsheet file labeled "March 2021 Economic and fiscal outlook – supplementary fiscal tables: receipts and other".