Education Lending Trends

The World Bank is one of the world's largest providers of external funding for education.  It began supporting education in developing countries in 1963 and to date has transferred more than $US 41billion in loans and credits for education.  World Bank education lending has been averaging about $2 billion annually for the last five years, a level that is almost double that of the previous five years (lending to Education FY 00 toted $728 million).  This trend was maintained in FY 07, with total education lending amounting to $2.022 billion.  Such lending is transferred by the World Bank to developing countries to support the development of policies and strategies, strengthen institutions and service delivery and help countries expand the qualitative and quantitative capacity of their education systems.

Aggregate data on World Bank lending trends in the education sector can be accessed through the Education Historical Lending Figures.  Also, the World Bank’s Project Database provides access to detailed information on World Bank operations.

Below is a breakdown of World Bank Education lending trends between FY 2000 and FY 2007.

How much does the World Bank lend to education?

Fiscal Year Education New Commitments FY 00 728 FY 01 1,095 FY 02 1,385 FY 03 2,349 FY 04 1,685 FY 05 1,951 FY 06 1,991 FY 07 2,022

What region constituted the largest amount of lending in the education sector for FY 07?

Regional Education Lending Breakdown

Education lending varied widely among regions in FY 07 with the largest amount of education lending occurring in the South Asia Region (SAR) totaling $725 million in new education lending in FY 07 and constituting 36% of total Education Lending. 

The Africa Region (AFR) had the second largest amount of education lending in FY 07.  Africa Region lending to education reached an all time high of $707 million, accounting for 35 percent of all education ending in FY 07.  This is significant as education lending to AFR was on a steady decline over the past five years and had reached an all time low of $339 million in FY06.  Combined lending to all other regions, East Asia and the Pacific (EAP), Europe and Central Asia (ECA), Latin America and the Caribbean (LCR), and Middle East and North Africa (MNA) accounted for 29 percent of education lending in FY 07. There were sharp declines in lending to all of these regions, in particular to the LCR which reached $369 million, approximately half that of the previous fiscal year.

In terms of number of operations, although SAR had the largest amount of lending, the AFR region had the largest number of projects in Education in FY 07 accounting for 36 % of operations managed by the Education Sector Board.

What education sub-sector receives the most lending?

The World Bank supports holistic education reform in various manners.  It continues to support Basic Education through various activities and lending. Primary Education represented the largest percentage of World Bank education lending and about half of lending to the General Education sub-sector, a project categorization used when a project supports more than five sectors or when no sub-sector is appropriate, is considered to be part of Basic Education lending.  In FY 07, it is estimated that slightly under 36% of Education Lending went towards Basic Education.  An interesting shift in lending in FY07 was the increase to lending to technical and vocational education activities which grew in FY 07 and reached 21 percent of total lending, making this one of the best years for the subsector.

Below is an overview of past education lending trends by education sub-sector. Also, a breakdown of FY 07 education sub-sector lending by region has been provided below.

 Overview of FY 2006 Education Lending

Overview of FY 2005 Education Lending

Overview of FY 2004 Education Lending

Overview of FY 2003 Education Lending