Education Spending: Palau

Analysis# Palau Education Spending Palau allocated 3.437% of its GDP to education in 2023, marking the lowest point in the available data spanning 2000–2023. This represents a dramatic decline from the country's peak of 7.844% in 2000, reflecting a 56.2% reduction in education spending as a share of GDP over two decades. The current figure places Palau's education investment significantly below its historical commitment to the sector. The sharpest contraction occurred between 2002 and 2020, when spending fell from 7.546% to 3.471% of GDP. Recent years show stabilization rather than recovery, with fluctuations between 3.437% and 3.944% from 2020 onward. Unless policy priorities shift, Palau's education spending appears locked at roughly half its turn-of-the-century level, suggesting sustained budgetary constraints or reallocation toward other sectors.