Press Release 30/05/2023

EDUCATION ACCOUNT. Advance. 2022

In 2022 the amount of money spent on education in the Basque Country increased by 5.8%, reaching 4,710 million euros

Expenditure per inhabitant stood at 2,152 euros, 5.9% more than in 2021

In 2022, total expenditure on education in the Basque Country was up 5.8% in respect of 2021, standing at 4,710 million euros, according to advance data prepared by Eustat. Of the total expenditure, 4,506 million corresponded to current expenditure and 204 million to gross capital formation

Expenditure on education stood at 2,152 euros per inhabitant, and in GDP terms it reached 5.5%, down 0.2 percentage points on the previous year

The Education Account details current and capital expenditure on all educational activities (regulated and non-regulated) that have been carried out in educational institutions and in any type of centre or business, and have been funded by public or private sources.

The analysis of data from recent years demonstrates that following 2020, when there was hardly any growth in total expenditure due to the reduction registered in private expenditure, over the last two years expenditure levels have started to increase. Specifically, in 2021 growth of 6.4% was registered, reaching 4,451 million euros, primarily due to the increase in current expenditure, 6.8% higher than in 2020. In turn, 2022 saw increases in both current expenditure and gross capital formation, of 5.6% and 9.6%, respectively.

As regards the funding structure, in recent years public funding has grown faster than private funding. Public funding increased from 76.0% in 2019, to 77.0% in 2022, with the highest increase registered in 2000, when it reached 77.7% of the total expenditure.

The detailed analysis of expenditure shown below corresponds to 2021, as it is the last year with definitive data available, which are those that enable this analysis.

In terms of funding, public funding continued to account for the most spending on education services (84.3%) and capital expenditure (61.9%), whereas private funding was higher in expenditure on other activities and goods (58.1%), which included transport, school meals, books and school materials.

A more detailed breakdown by function indicates that in 2021 Educational and Training Services accounted for 81.3% of total expenditure, while Additional Activities (transport, school meals, student accommodation etc.) accounted for 6.6%, with expenditure of 292 million euros. Spending on books, school material and other goods purchased by households stood at 155 million euros, accounting for 3.5%. Expenditure on Educational Innovation remained at 3.4% and expenditure related to the General Administration of the Education System at 1.0% of the total Finally, expenditure on gross capital formation accounted for 4.2% of total expenditure, 0.3 points down on 2020.

Regarding international comparison, we analysed the latest data published by the OECD corresponding to 2019. For that year, total expenditure per pupil in educational institutions measured in Purchasing Power Parity ($) (PPP) was 14,386 in the Basque Country for all educational stages from primary through to tertiary education, placing it above Spain (10,694), the EU-22 average (12,397), the OECD average(12,519), and countries such as France (13,049), although below other countries such as Germany (14,632) and Sweden (15,337). At the very top of the table was Luxembourg with 25,433.

Referring solely to primary, secondary and post-secondary education levels, expenditure per student in the Basque Country stood at 13,583 ($) PPP, only below Norway (15,816) and Luxembourg (23,516), the countries with the highest expenditure.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel.: 945 01 75 62