The education sector in the Middle East has grown significantly over the past few decades, and this trend is expected to continue, with the K-12 and higher education sectors representing the majority of spending.
The total market value of the sector in the region is expected to reach $175 billion by 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of 8.5% during the expected period 2022-2027, according to the “OcoGlobal” organization.
The size of the private education market in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries alone is likely to reach $30.41 billion in 2024, and it is estimated to reach $52.83 billion by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 11.39% during the expected period (2024-2029). According to the Mordor Intelligence platform.
In this report, Al Jazeera Net presents 8 of the most prominent Arab countries spending on education, based on the countries’ general budgets for the year 2024 as a reference year through:
- The volume of spending on the education sector from the state’s general budget in 2024 as a reference year.
- Ratio of spending to total spending in the budget for the year 2024.
1- Saudi Arabia
- The state’s general budget in 2024: 1.34 trillion riyals ($358 billion).
- Education sector budget 2024: 195 billion riyals ($51.9 billion).
- Percentage of spending on education as a percentage of GDP: 14.5%.
Saudi Arabia is expected to lead the Gulf Cooperation Council countries as the largest education market between 2022 and 2027. The Saudi government has allocated 195 billion riyals to the education sector ($51.9 billion) in its 2024 budget, according to Ministry of Finance data, a slight increase from the 2023 budget, which amounted to 50.4 billion. Dollars, thus the proportion of government spending on education amounts to 14.5% of the size of the Saudi budget in 2024.
2- Qatar
- General budget for 2024: 202 billion riyals ($55.4 billion).
- Education sector budget: 18.7 billion riyals ($5.1 billion).
- Percentage of spending on education out of total budget expenditures: 9.3%.
Qatar confirmed the continued focus of the general budget on achieving the goals of Qatar Vision 2030 related to developing human capital by focusing on the health and education sectors, as allocations for the two sectors constitute 20% of the total budget.
3- UAE
- UAE Federal Budget 2024: 71.5 billion dirhams ($19.4 billion).
- Education sector budget: 10.914 billion dirhams ($2.97 billion).
- Percentage of spending on education out of total expenditures: 15.3%.
It is noteworthy that there is a special budget for each of the seven emirates of the country, which differs from the state’s federal budget, and has a special budget for education.
4- Sultanate of Oman
- Budget of the Sultanate of Oman 2024: 11.650 billion riyals ($30.26 billion).
- Education sector budget: 1.974 billion riyals ($5.1 billion).
- Percentage of spending on education out of total expenditures: 16.8%.
Among the most prominent development projects allocated to the education sector in the Sultanate of Oman, which are being implemented in 2024, is the establishment of 15 government schools, issuing tenders to establish 20 new government schools, as well as establishing the University of Technology and Applied Sciences in Musandam Governorate, and increasing 850 new contracts for government school buses.
5- Kuwait
- Kuwait 2024 budget: 24.5 billion dinars ($79.9 billion).
- Education budget: 3.4 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($11 billion).
- Percentage of spending on education out of total expenditures: 13.8%.
In its 2024 budget, the Kuwaiti government allocated an amount of 2.6 billion dinars ($8.45 billion) to the Ministry of Education, and an amount of 788 million dinars ($2.56 billion) to the Ministry of Higher Education, bringing the total allocated to the education sector to about 3.4 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($11 billion), according to What is stated in the budget of the State of Kuwait for the year 2024.
6- Egypt
- Egypt’s 2024-2025 budget: 6.4 trillion pounds ($135.4 billion).
- Education budget 2024: 998.1 billion pounds ($20.1 billion).
- Percentage of spending on education out of total expenditures: 14.8%.
The Citizen’s Budget report showed that the total allocations for higher and pre-university education and scientific research amounted to about 998.1 billion pounds ($20.1 billion) in the budget for the fiscal year 2024-2025.
The report – issued by the Ministry of Finance under the title “Together… We Build and Develop” – stated that 565 billion pounds were allocated to pre-university education, 293 billion pounds to higher and university education, and 140.1 billion pounds to scientific research.
He stated that the most important projects in the education sector in the economic development plan for the year 2024-2025, with regard to pre-university education: (expanding the availability of schools for outstanding students and applied schools, developing and rehabilitating 3,500 existing schools, creating 16,000 new classrooms, replacing and renovating 13,000 classrooms, and providing… Tablet for first year secondary school students.
As for technical education, he pointed out that the most important projects include establishing 10 applied technology schools, developing and rehabilitating 200 existing schools, and replacing and renovating 1,083 classrooms.
Egypt’s budget for the fiscal year 2024-2025 amounted to about 6.4 trillion pounds ($135.4 billion), so the percentage of spending on education is 14.8%.
7- Morocco
- Morocco’s 2024 budget: 638 billion dirhams ($63.8 billion).
- Education budget: 74 billion dirhams ($7.4 billion).
- Percentage of spending on education out of total expenditures: 11.6%.
Morocco’s budget in 2024 amounted to about 638 billion dirhams ($63.8 billion). Chakib Benmoussa, Minister of National Education, Primary Education and Sports, said that the budget of the national education and primary education sector according to the 2024 finance law amounted to 74 billion dirhams ($7.4 billion), or 11.6%. From the state’s general budget.
8- Algeria
- Algeria’s budget in 2024: 14.97 trillion dinars ($112 billion).
- Education budget in 2024: 1.48 trillion dinars ($11.2 billion).
- Percentage: 10.18%.
The Algerian Minister of National Education, Abdelhakim Belabed, revealed the education sector budget in the 2024 budget, entitled Finance Law 2024, which amounted to 1.48 billion Algerian dinars.
Belabed added that the budget of the national education sector for the year 2024 constitutes 10.18% of the total budget, which is a significant percentage.
The 8 highest ranked Arab universities in the world
Below is a list of the 8 highest-ranking Arab universities in the world in 2025 according to the QS World University Rankings, which is the most comprehensive classification of its kind.
Highlighting the best academic institutions from around the world, the rankings are compiled by data analysts at QS in partnership with tens of thousands of higher education institutions. It includes data points from 16.4 million academic papers as well as the opinions of more than 151,000 academics and 100,000 employers around the world.
The QS rankings are compiled using a core methodology that uses a range of vital factors including student experience, university partnerships, the university’s research and scholarly activity, as well as the qualifications of teaching staff, post-graduate employment outcomes, the university’s international reputation, as well as the proportion of teaching staff international to local in each country, international student diversity, the institution’s global engagement, sustainability, and more.
The list of the top 100 universities in the world in 2025 is devoid of any Arab university, and the first Arab university appears on the list that includes 1,500 universities across various countries of the world, which is King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia, in 101st place, which is a good position and an improvement over the university’s ranking that it occupied last year. Ranked 143rd globally, it is the first Arab university in the ranking of the best universities for the year 2025, and the list includes:
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
- Global ranking: 101.
- Arabic ranking: 1.
- Country: Saudi Arabia.
Qatar University
- World ranking: 122.
- Arabic ranking: 2.
- Country: Qatar.
King Abdulaziz University
- World ranking: 149.
- Arabic ranking: 3.
- Country: Saudi Arabia.
Hamad bin Khalifa University
- World ranking: 183.
- Arabic ranking: 4.
- Country: Qatar.
King Saud University
- Global ranking: 200.
- Arabic ranking: 5.
- Country: Saudi Arabia.
Khalifa University
- World ranking: 202.
- Arabic ranking: 6.
- Country: UAE.
United Arab Emirates University
- World ranking: 261.
- Arabic ranking: 7.
- Country: UAE.
Cairo University
- World ranking: 350.
- Arabic ranking: 8.
- Country: Egypt.
The most prominent problems facing education in the Arab region, according to UNICEF:
- Wars and conflicts
There are multiple challenges facing the education sector in the Arab region, perhaps the most important of which are the wars and conflicts that have ravaged and are ravaging many countries such as Gaza, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, and others. According to UNICEF, one in every 5 children in the Middle East and North Africa region has dropped out of education.
The UNESCO Regional Office for Education in the Arab States and the United Nations World Food Program said that the prolonged crises in the Middle East and North Africa region have caused 15 million children to be out of school, which undermines the development potential of the countries of the region, and the number of children out of school is expected to increase by 5 million additional children by 2030.
- AFor bad education
In international assessments of learning outcomes, such as the International Society for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (PIRLS) and Trends in Achievement in Mathematics and Science (TIMSS), the level of education in most participating countries from the MENA region is at the bottom, and all MENA countries Africa achieved levels lower than the internationally recognized central region, which is 500 points in all countries of the region.
Mismatch between skills and labor market requirements
Education systems fail to prepare children, adolescents and young adults for the workplace, labor markets do not generate the necessary jobs, and unemployment rates among youth (15-24 years) in the MENA region are the highest in the world with an estimated one-third of youth in North Africa and over One in every 5 young people in Arab countries are unemployed as of 2018.
