Press Release 28/05/2025

EDUCATION ACCOUNT. Advance. 2024

In 2024 expenditure on education in the Basque Country increased by 6.4%, and stood at 5,240 million euros

Expenditure on education per inhabitant was 2,373 euros, 6.1% more than in 2023

In 2024, total expenditure on education in the Basque Country reached 5,240 million euros, an increase of 6.4% compared to that of 2023, according to Eustat data. Of the total expenditure, 5,004 million corresponded to current expenditure and 236 million to gross capital formation.

In relative terms, the expenditure per inhabitant was 2,373 euros, which was an increase of 6.1%; and as a percentage of GDP it reached 5.4%, 0.1 percentage points more than 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 growth rate of the past two years remained at around 6%. Specifically, 2023 saw an increase of 5.9% in current expenditure and a sharp rise of 13.3% in gross capital formation. In 2024, the highest growth occurred in current expenditure, 6.5% more than the previous year, exceeding 5,000 million of expenditure. However, investment experienced more modest growth, of 5.1%, and stood at 236 million euros.

Regarding the funding structure, the trend seen in previous years continued and public funding grew faster than private funding. Public funding increased from 76.0% in 2019, to 78.4% in 2024, the highest percentage of the last 10 years.

The majority of public funding continued to be spent on education services (85.1%) and capital expenditure (63.9%), whereas private funding was higher in expenditure on other activities and goods (55.7%), which included transport, school meals, books and school materials.

Regarding the detailed structure of expenditure, a breakdown by function shows that it has remained relatively stable in recent years: current expenditure accounted for 95% of expenditure and gross capital formation was slightly higher than 4% of expenditure.

Educational and Training Services accounted for around 81.4% of the total expenditure, exceeding 4,000 million in the last two years. Additional Activities (transport, school meals, student accommodation etc...) represented 6.6% of expenditure, the largest item being expenditure on School meals, 226 million in 2024. However, expenditure on Educational Research and Innovation, with 174 million, stood at 3.3%. It was followed by expenditure on books, school material and other goods purchased by households, which reached 163 million euros in 2024, 3.1% of total expenditure. Finally, expenditure related to the General Administration of the Education System remained at 1.0% of the total, 53 million in 2024.

As regards international comparison, the most recent data published by the OECD corresponds to 2021. For that year, total expenditure per pupil in educational institutions measured in Purchasing Power Parity ($) (PPP) in the Basque Country for all educational stages from primary through to tertiary was 16,172, placing it above the average of the EU-25 (13,787), above the average of OECD (14,209), and above countries such as Spain (12,426), France (14,803) and Finland (14,723); but placing it below countries such as Germany (17,161), Sweden (17,107) and Luxembourg (30,115), which are at the very top of the table.

By educational stages, the Basque Country registered expenditure of $15,300 PPP per student for primary, secondary and post-secondary Education, which was higher than the averages of the OECD (12,703) and the EU-25 (12,395). However, expenditure per student in tertiary Education was equal to $19,257 PPP, in this case below the averages of the OECD (20,499) and the EU-25 (20,027).

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