Public spending on education in the EU made up 4.7% of the bloc’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023.
The figure covers government spending on education from pre-primary through to tertiary level, Eurostat said in a statement on Tuesday.
Spending in 2023 was down slightly compared with 2020, when education expenditure reached 5.0% of GDP — the highest level recorded since Eurostat’s data series began in 2012.
Among EU countries, Sweden reported the highest education spending relative to the size of its economy at 6.8% of GDP, followed by Finland at 6.3% and Belgium at 6.2%.
The lowest shares were recorded in Romania at 3.0%, Greece at 3.3% and Malta at 3.4%.
Highest and lowest spenders across the EU
Eurostat’s figures are published as a share of GDP, a standard measure of economic output that allows comparisons between countries of different sizes.
The latest data come from Eurostat’s public finance dataset on education spending.
