India’s education spending rises, still lags some BRICS nations

In urban India, education accounted for 6% of household expenditure in 2025, while in rural areas the expenditure stood at 3.2%

India’s public spending on education has increased over the years, but remains below those of some other Brics countries, according to the Brics Joint Statistical Publication 2026, released last month.

According to the report, India’s household spending on education also increased. In urban India, education accounted for 4.3% of household expenditure in 2000, rising to 6% in 2025 (Shutterstock)

India also continues to face the challenge of converting educational investment into a workforce employed in higher-productivity sectors, amid the need for greater “alignment of training programmes with evolving market demands” and stronger “linkage of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions with industries” according to Brics Education Ministers’ Declaration adopted at the 13th Brics Education Ministers’ Meeting in Bhubaneswar on August 7, 2026.

India’s public expenditure on education increased from 1.2% of GDP in 2016 to 4.1% of GDP in 2023. This compared with 4.9% in Brazil and 10.5% in South Africa, while it was marginally higher than China’s 4.02%, Russia’s (3.5%), the UAE’s (3.8%) and Indonesia’s (1.3%), according to the report. To be sure, China’s GDP is much higher than India’s, and its population older (a median age of 41 compared with India’s 29 years, according to the UN’s World Population data).

According to the report, India’s household spending on education also increased. In urban India, education accounted for 4.3% of household expenditure in 2000, rising to 6% in 2025 — an increase of 1.7 percentage points. In rural areas, the share rose from 1.9% to 3.2%, an increase of 1.3 percentage points. By comparison, Indonesia’s education spending accounted for 3.7% of urban household expenditure and 2.1% of rural expenditure in 2025. In China, the broader category of ‘Education, cultural and recreation’ accounted for 12.0% of urban household consumption and 11.5% of rural household consumption in 2025.

Yet India’s employment structure remains heavily dependent on agriculture and allied activities. In 2025, 43% of India’s employed population was in the primary industry, compared with 29.3% in Indonesia, 22.2% in China, 8% in South Africa and 5.3% in Russia. India’s primary-sector share has fallen only 1.6 percentage points from 44.6% in 2018. Industry accounted for 25.1% and services 31.9% of employment in India, the report said.