Press Release 28/05/2021

EDUCATION ACCOUNT. Advance. 2020

In 2020, expenditure on education in the Basque Country increased by 0.2%, reaching 5.8% of GDP

Per inhabitant, it was 1,887 euros, almost the same as in 2019 but 3.1% more than in 2018

In 2020, total expenditure on education in the Basque Country was up 0.2% on 2019, according to advance data prepared by Eustat. The education sector, like other activities, was affected by the crisis caused by COVID-19 in 2020. This rate of growth, together with the 9.6% downturn in GDP, places expenditure on education at 5.8% of GDP, up 0.6 percentage points compared to 2019.

Of total spending, 3,978 million went on current expenditure and 174 million went on gross capital formation (investment), while education expenditure per inhabitant stood at 1,887 euros.

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.

As regards funding structure, public funding remained above 75% for the entire series of years. In 2020, it increased by one point to 76.9%.

The analysis of data from 2019, the last year with definitive data, shows that total spending grew by 3.7% compared to the previous year, to 4,145 million euros. The rise was due to the 165 million euro increase in current spending, up 4.3% with respect to 2018. On the other hand, investment fell by 18 million compared to 2018, when there was a sharp increase of more than 50%, following a 56 million euro rise in private investment. In per-capita terms, total spending in 2019 grew by 3.2% to 1,889 euros.

A breakdown of current expenditure shows that, in 2019, public funding accounted for the most spending on education services (83.3%) and capital expenditure (58.6%); on the other hand, private funding was higher in expenditure on other activities and goods (58.5%), which included transport, school meals, books and school materials, as well as the general administration of the education system.

A more detailed breakdown by function indicates that Educational and Training Services accounted for 80.6% of total expenditure, whereas Additional Activities (transport, school meals, student accommodation etc.), with expenditure of 277 million euros, accounted for 6.7%. Spending on Books, school material, and other goods purchased by Households stood at 154 million euros, accounting for 3.7%, and spending related to the General Administration of the Education System accounted for 1.0%. Both these percentages remained unchanged in recent years. Other areas whose share of total spending decreased included Educational Research and Innovation, which was down by 0.5 points to 3.7%, and gross capital formation, which fell by 18 million compared to 2018, accounting for 4.3% of total expenditure.

Regarding international comparison, we analysed the latest data published by the OECD corresponding to 2017. For that year, total expenditure per pupil in educational institutions measured in Purchasing Power Parity ($) (PPP) was 12,808 in the Basque Country for all educational stages from primary through to tertiary education, placing it above Spain (10,105), the OECD average (11,231), the EU-23 average (11,515) and countries such as France (12,080), although below other countries such as Germany (13,529) and Sweden (14,505). By educational stages, the Basque Country registered expenditure of 11,896 ($) PPP per student for primary, secondary, and post-secondary Education, which was higher than the averages for Spain (9,166), the OECD (9,999) and the EU-23 (10,344). In the case of tertiary education, spending by the Basque Country stood at 16,262 ($) PPP, which was less than the 16,688 ($) PPP average of the 23 countries in the European Union analysed by the OECD (EU-23).

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