Measured as a proportion of GNP, total government expenditures on education in the Philippines registered a 3.8 percent share in 1997. Most of its Asian counterparts allocated lesser proportions. Only three countries - Malaysia, Thailand, and Bhutan - recorded higher ratios.

The Philippine government's expenditures on education accounted for nearly one-fifth of its total expenditures in 1997. This record is second only to Thailand, which devoted 20.1 percent of its total expenditures to education. All the other countries had lower proportions, ranging from 7.0 to 15.4 percent.

Government Education Expenditures of Selected Asian Countries

Source of data: UN, Statistical Yearbook, Forty-fifth issue

1/ Data not available
2/ Based on the NEXA preliminary estimates