Press Release 28/11/2022

PRIVATE EDUCATION EXPENDITURE AND FINANCING STATISTICS 2021

Total expenditure by private education centres in the Basque Country rose to 1,223 million euros in 2021

Private education centres catered to around 214,000 students and employed almost 21,500 people

The total expenditure of the 469 centres that belonged to the private education network in 2021 stood at 1,223 million euros, up 4.04% on 2018, according to Eustat data. Private education centres catered to around 214,000 students and employed almost 21,500 people, 69% of whom were women.

The majority of the sector's total expenditure was concentrated on pre-university level centres (84%), while higher education centres represented 14% and those dedicated to arts education accounted for the remaining 2%.

In 2021, current expenditure rose to 1,164 million euros, increasing by 7% between 2018 and 2021. The majority of current expenditure (77%) went on staff. Of particular note was the decrease in respect of 2018 in expenditure on both additional activities (-52%) and additional services (-15%). This was due to the drop in the number of students who used these services in recent years, caused by the pandemic.

Within current expenditure by function, the education function accounted for expenditure of 1,074 million euros, 10% more than in 2018.

Meanwhile, capital spending fell by 34% compared to 2018.

Between 2018 and 2021, education cost per student increased by 14% and per unit it was up 28.7%

Education cost per student stood at €5,026, 14% more than in 2018, while education cost per unit rose to €126,729, up 29% on 2018.

Meanwhile, education expenditure (which includes the estimated expenditure on staff who do not have a contractual relationship with the centre and do not receive remuneration) per school unit or group stood at €76,318 for Early Childhood Education and €96,408 for Primary Education. In Compulsory Secondary Education it was €121,372, €112,105 in Vocational Training and €153,739 in Upper Secondary. The cost per unit in Adult Education amounted to €56,362.

Education expenditure per student came to €4,585 for Early Childhood Education, €4,536 for Primary Education, €5,559 for Compulsory Secondary Education, €5,534 for Upper Secondary Education, €5,297 for Vocational Training and €2,519 for Adult Education. Furthermore, expenditure per student at university level came to €7,066, whilst for Arts Education it was €1,826.

Regarding income, the total income for private centres amounted to 1,228 million euros, with 98.9% corresponding to current income and the remaining 1.1% to capital income. Public subsidies were the main source of current income, accounting for 64%, an increase of two percentage points compared to 2018, followed by fees, which represented 32.7% of current income, and within those, tuition fees (24%) and fees for additional services (7.2%).

As a whole, income from fees stood at 397 million euros, of which tuition fees comprised 74.5% of the total, school meals provided 15.6%, transport fees accounted for 5.0%; the remaining income came from fees for other services.

Note: The Private Education Expenditure and Financing Statistics were prepared by Eustat in collaboration with the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE).

Methodological note: A private education centre is understood to be one that is owned by a private institution, entity or person, with the owner being understood as the natural or legal person who is listed as such in the Centres Register of the Basque Government’s Education Department. By virtue of Decree 289/1992, of 27 October, Eustat includes specific, non-regulated music education centres, i.e. authorised music schools.

For further information:

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