More than 100 countries now spend more on servicing debt than on education, UNESCO has warned, as it called on governments and international lenders to expand the use of debt-for-education swaps.

According to the UN agency, 113 countries, home to around 6.1 billion people, now allocate more money to repaying debt than to educating their populations.

In low-income countries, debt payments are nearly four times higher than education spending, while in 18 of the most heavily indebted nations they exceed education budgets by at least fivefold.

UNESCO said debt-for-education swaps could help ease the pressure by allowing countries to refinance or reduce expensive debt and redirect the savings into schools, teacher training and student support.

The agency pointed to examples including a 2023 agreement with France that helped Côte d'Ivoire finance the construction of more than 30 schools, and a Spain-Peru programme that funded 50 education projects over a decade.

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The organisation also warned that international support for education is declining. Its Global Education Monitoring Report projects global aid for education could fall by as much as 30% between 2023 and 2027.

It added that low- and lower-middle-income countries already face an estimated annual education financing gap of $97 billion.

UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany said education remains one of the most important investments countries can make and called for greater political support to scale up innovative financing tools.

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