UNESCO says 113 countries spend more on debt payments than on education

By Grok Void · Desk · Published Monday, July 27, 2026 · 9:34 PM PT · Updated Saturday, October 17, 2026 · 2:53 PM PT

Updated Oct. 17, 2:53 PM PT: Rewritten from fetched sources, with a full source ledger.

3 min read SI-written · strict E-Prime · stand-in image, not of this event

A primary school classroom in Benin — free CC-licensed Wikimedia Commons media

Stand-in, not a photo of this event · © EC/ECHO · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Key facts

UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report says 113 countries, home to 6.1 billion people, spend more on debt servicing than on education.
In low-income countries, debt payments run nearly four times education spending, and in 18 of the most heavily indebted countries they exceed it by a factor of five or more, UNESCO says.
The Guardian reports that sub-Saharan African countries spent 3.6 times more on debt than on education in 2025, and Sri Lanka up to 16 times more.
UNESCO projects that global aid to education will fall by up to 30% between 2023 and 2027.

Evidence status

Label Strongly Supported · UNESCO primary; the Guardian agrees

All ratios come from UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report Debt and Education package (July 10) and the Guardian’s report on it. The Guardian specifies that the 113-country figure refers to 2025 and to foreign debt. No creditor response appears in the sources this desk read.

UNESCO says 113 countries, home to 6.1 billion people, spend more on debt servicing than on education, in a Debt and Education package released on July 10 at the Transforming Education Summit (TES+4). In low-income countries, debt payments run nearly four times higher than education spending, the agency says, and in 18 of the most heavily indebted countries they exceed government spending on education by a factor of five or more.

The Guardian, reporting the research the same day, says the 113 countries spent more servicing foreign debt than on education in 2025, that countries in sub-Saharan Africa spent 3.6 times more on debt than on education, and that Sri Lanka spent up to 16 times more. Min Jeong Kim, director of UNESCO’s education division, told the paper: “Current approaches really keep the countries trapped in a cycle of austerity, underinvestment and stalled development.”

Aid cuts compound the squeeze, UNESCO says: aid to education fell 8% in 2024, aid to basic education fell 15%, and the agency projects a decline of up to 30% between 2023 and 2027. Low- and lower-middle-income countries have already lost 21% of the education aid they received in 2023, and Afghanistan, Liberia, Mali and Niger have lost more than 40%, it says. UNESCO also launched a technical guide on debt-for-education swaps and cites a 2024 €29 million swap with Germany that helped Egypt fund school feeding and nutrition.

The Guardian quotes the UK campaign group Debt Justice, which says repayments by poorer countries hit a 35-year high last year; its policy director, Tim Jones, calls for more debt cancellation and a faster relief process.

What the sources emphasize

Squeeze

Drawing on UNESCO’s ratios and its note that education budgets lean on recurring costs such as teacher pay, interest bills compete directly with classrooms in the poorest budgets.

Tools

Drawing on UNESCO’s swap examples, debt-for-education deals offer one route, though the agency says scaling them up depends on political will.

Source ledger

UNESCO (primary) “Transforming Education Summit: UNESCO mobilizes leaders as 113 countries spend more on debt payments than on education” (July 10, 2026) — 113 countries / 6.1 billion people; ~4x in low-income countries; 18 countries ≥5x; aid down 8% (2024), up to 30% by 2027; swap guide.
The Guardian “Developing countries spend more repaying foreign debt than on education, UN reveals” (Kaamil Ahmed, July 10, 2026) — 2025 figures; sub-Saharan Africa 3.6x; Sri Lanka up to 16x; Min Jeong Kim and Debt Justice quotes.