Full Breakdown
UNESCO Warns Debt Payments Eclipse Education Budgets in 113 Developing Nations
7/10/2026, 9:43:03 PM
Core Findings
UNESCO’s 2026 Global Education Monitoring Report reveals that in 2025 more than 113 low- and lower-middle-income countries spent a larger share of public resources on servicing external debt than on education. In sub-Saharan Africa, debt outlays were 3.6 times higher than education spending. Eighteen of the most indebted states allocated at least five times, and in Sri Lanka up to sixteen times, more to debt than to schools.
Background and Funding Decline
The report notes a sharp contraction in international education aid. Between 2023 and 2024, overall aid fell 8 %, while assistance for basic education (pre-school to lower secondary) dropped 15 %. Low- and lower-middle-income countries have already lost 21 % of the education aid they received in 2023, and UNESCO projects a further decline of up to 30 % by 2027. Afghanistan, Liberia, Mali and Niger have each seen aid reductions exceeding 40 % over the past three years. The shrinking aid pool, combined with rising debt service obligations, forces governments to divert funds away from teacher salaries, school operations and student support.
Data and Statistics
- 113 countries (home to 6.1 billion people) spend more on debt servicing than on education.
- In low-income nations, debt payments are nearly four times education spending.
- The annual education financing gap for low- and lower-middle-income countries is estimated at US $97 billion.
- Education’s share of total development assistance fell to 7.5 % in 2024, the lowest level in two decades.
Why It Matters
UNESCO warns that under-investment in education weakens economic growth, erodes domestic revenue mobilisation, and hampers countries’ capacity to manage debt over time. The long-term consequence could be a cycle of austerity that stalls development and reduces future fiscal resilience.
Official Statements & Responses
UNESCO launched new technical guidance on debt-for-education swaps at the Transforming Education Summit + 4 in Paris, urging governments and international lenders to expand the mechanism. The agency highlighted successful bilateral swaps, such as the 2023 France-Ivory Coast agreement that financed more than 30 schools and the 2024 Germany-Egypt swap that supported school feeding programmes. UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany called for greater political support to scale up innovative financing tools.
Min Jeong Kim, director of UNESCO’s education division, stressed that “current approaches really keep the countries trapped in a cycle of austerity, underinvestment and stalled development,” adding that this “weakens countries’ stances on economic growth” and diminishes their ability to handle debt.
Criticism & Opposition
Debt Justice, a UK-based campaign group, warned that repayments by poorer nations hit a 35-year high in 2025, with 56 countries spending almost one-fifth of total revenue on loan servicing. Private creditors, particularly those based in Britain and the United States, have been cited for blocking debt-relief agreements, as illustrated by recent disputes over Ethiopia’s debt restructuring.
Verbatim Quotes
- “Min Jeong Kim, director of Unesco’s education division, said: “Current approaches really keep the countries trapped in a cycle of austerity, underinvestment and stalled development.” — Min Jeong Kim, UNESCO Education Division Director
- “This is really weakening countries’ stances on economic growth, eroding domestic revenue mobilisation and ultimately also diminishing their ability to handle their debt over time.” — Min Jeong Kim, UNESCO Education Division Director
- “Education is the most powerful investment countries can make, yet it is being systematically underfunded,” — Khaled El-Enany, UNESCO Director-General
- “The UK needs to use its presidency of the G20 in 2027 to get major changes to the debt-relief process, including more debt cancellation and a faster process,” — Jones, debt-relief advocate
- “Central to this is incorporating the process into English law, so that private creditors can no longer disrupt and hold out from the debt relief.” — Jones, debt-relief advocate
What’s Next
UNESCO’s technical guide on debt-for-education swaps provides a framework for future agreements, and the organization urges the United Kingdom, as G20 president in 2027, to pursue reforms that limit private creditor interference. Continued monitoring of aid trends and debt burdens will be central to the post-2030 education agenda.
