Romania allocates the lowest percentage of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to education in the entire European Union, namely 3%, while the European average is 4.7%. On the other hand, Sweden allocates the most - 6.8%, according to data published on Tuesday, August 18, by Eurostat – the European Statistical Office.

Furthermore, Romania allocates the lowest share of education budget on investments (as opposed to wages). 

When it comes to the structure of expenditure, in Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Poland, Estonia, and Luxembourg, capital expenditure represented at least 10% of total expenditure for educational institutions in 2023. In contrast, capital expenditure represented less than 5% of total expenditure in Romania and Belgium.

Public spending on education (from kindergarten to high school) in the European Union represented 4.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, a figure that did not change compared to the situation in 2022, according to data published by Eurostat.

Among the Member States, the highest level of public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP was recorded in Sweden (6.8%), followed by Finland (6.3%) and Belgium (6.2%). At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest levels were recorded in Romania (3% of GDP), Greece (3.3%), and Malta (3.4%).

At the level of the EU bloc, public spending on education decreased slightly, by 0.3 percentage points, in 2023 compared to the situation in 2020, when it stood at 5% of GDP, with this also being the year with the highest level of public spending on education since the beginning of statistical data collection, in 2012.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Sarinya Pinngam/Dreamstime.com)