95% of education funding in Azerbaijan comes from state

Azerbaijan invests approximately 4.9 billion manats (nearly $5 billion) each year in its education sector, according to Deputy Minister of Science and Education, Idris Isayev.

Azernews reports that Isayev made the statement during the opening ceremony of the 7th Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Dialogue, held under the theme “Investing in Education for Azerbaijan’s Sustainable Development.”

He noted that in recent years, Azerbaijan has implemented a number of national programs, strategies, and policy frameworks aimed at strengthening its education system. The main goals of these initiatives include: Improving the quality of education; Ensuring accessibility; Creating an education environment aligned with international standards; Carrying out education reforms in a consistent and structured manner.

The Deputy Minister emphasized that the state remains the primary investor in the country’s education sector:

“Globally, around 85% of education funding typically comes from the government, with the remaining 15% provided by the private sector. However, this distribution varies across countries and education levels. In Azerbaijan, approximately 95% of education investment is state-funded, while only 5% comes from private sources,” he explained. “Each year, nearly 5 billion manats are allocated to education from the state budget, which accounts for about 3.8% of the country's GDP.”