The increase was largely due to the incorporation of first-cycle infant education into the education system

Total expenditure on the public education centres in 2005 came to 1,482 million euros, with a 15.1% increase as regards 2003, according to EUSTAT data, which represented 2.6% of GDP in 2005. Public education centres accounted for 63.9% of total expenditure on education, given that expenditure on private education centres came to 834 million euros.

The majority of public centre expenditure, 91%, was earmarked to fund current activities and the remaining 9% to investments. As for current expenditure, 1,349 million euros, 93.4% was devoted directly to education (of which the largest sum, 88%, was allotted to personnel expenses), 1% to complementary activities and 5.6% to complementary services, mainly canteen and school transport services.

Graph 1: Evolution of total expenditure by education level (million €)

Source: EUSTAT

Turning to the type of education, centres offering pre-university levels represented 74% of total expenditure, while universities accounted for 21% and specialised education centres the remaining 5%. If compared with private centres, public universities contributed 10.6% more to total expenditure.

During the two-year period 2003 to 2005, the rhythm of growth for education expenditure was greater per student (7.9%) than per unit (5.7%).

Education expenditure per school unit in public centres accounted for 72,582 euros in infant education, while in primary, expenditure came to 71,995 euros. In middle-level education it came to 118,664 for E.S.O. (Compulsory Secondary Education), 159,356 euros for the areas of Baccalaureate and 134,018 and 132,871 euros for medium-grade and higher-grade Vocational Training.

Education expenditure per student came to 4,639 euros in infant education, while in primary it was 4,956. As for middle-level education, it ranged from 7,804 in E.S.O., to 6,305 in Baccalaureate and from 9,890 to 8,920 in medium-grade and higher-grade Vocational Training respectively. In specialised education (languages, music and arts and crafts) it came to 1,107 euros per student and in university, to 4,943 euros.

Total income for public centres totalled 1,506 million euros, with 91.3% corresponding to current income and 8.7% to capital income. The main components of current income were public subsidies, which accounted for 91.6% of the total. Private sources contributed 6.7% of current income, mainly through school fees (3.7%) and complementary services and activities (3%).

Table 1.- Summary of the evolution of the main variables

Source: EUSTAT