In the case of Zimbabwe, international data differs from the national figures available. While international comparative data show that less than 0.5% of GDP is invested in education, national data indicate that 2.9% of GDP and 14.04% of the total budget were allocated to education in 2023—still below internationally recommended benchmarks.

Our member’s extended analysis, developed by ECOZI, highlights the need for increased public funding for education, as well as the importance of addressing disbursement and utilisation bottlenecks. While the Constitution (Section 27) and the Education Act (Amendment No. 15, 2020) guarantee state-funded basic education, there are limited financial resources and insufficient financial management mechanisms in place to ensure this right is realised.

The analysis further shows that education financing is constrained by significant macroeconomic challenges, including debt servicing, corruption, and bureaucratic inefficiencies, which affect both the availability and the efficient management of resources allocated to the sector. A hyperinflationary environment and currency depreciation can severely erode the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) budget, as was the case in previous years—particularly in 2020.

The lack of adequate public funding undermines the principle of free education: parents contribute up to 96% of non-salary education costs at school level, raising serious equity concerns. The international wealth parity index was 1.81 in 2019, meaning that children from the wealthiest households were 1.8 times more likely to attend school than those from the poorest households.

Visit the country’s page for more comparative figures, alongside our member’s brief and report with national-level analysis, insights, and policy recommendations.