See what a high band reads like.

P1The bar chart shows the percentage of gross domestic product that six countries allocated to government education spending in 2020.

P2Overall, Sweden devoted the largest share of its economy to education by a clear margin, while Japan spent the least. The remaining four countries clustered relatively close together in a middle band.

P3Sweden's spending stood at 7.95% of GDP, making it the clear leader and approximately 4.6 percentage points ahead of Japan, which recorded the lowest figure at 3.31%. Brazil was the second-highest spender at 5.77%, followed closely by Germany at 5.52% and the UK at 5.44%, with the USA only marginally lower at 5.4%. These four countries were therefore separated by fewer than 0.4 percentage points, indicating broadly similar levels of educational investment.

P4The most notable feature of the chart is the gap at each end of the scale. Sweden's figure was more than a third higher than those of the mid-range group, while Japan's allocation fell well short of every other country shown. The relatively tight clustering of Brazil, Germany, the UK, and the USA suggests a common threshold around 5.4 to 5.8% of GDP, with Sweden and Japan as clear outliers above and below this range.