Together, EU governments spent €806 billion on education in 2023, equivalent to 4.7% of the bloc’s GDP.
Public education spending as a share of GDP has declined slightly over the past decade, from 4.96% in 2014 to 4.65% in 2023, according to the latest Eurostat figures.
It briefly reached 5.02% in 2020, largely because the economy contracted during the pandemic rather than because of a comparable increase in education budgets.
Across the European countries covered by Eurostat, Sweden spent the highest share of GDP, at 6.8%. Finland, Iceland, Belgium and Denmark also spent more than 6%. Romania and Greece were near the bottom, at 2.97% and 3.33%, respectively.
Where is spending per student the highest?
Comparing education spending as a share of GDP does not account for differences in the wealth of a country or student populations.
The GDP measure shows the overall financial effort a country makes, while spending per student indicates how much purchasing power supports each person in education.
The size of the economy, the number of students and how funding is divided between different education levels can all affect the rankings.
The values are expressed in purchasing power standards, or PPS — an artificial common unit that adjusts for differences in national price levels and makes spending more comparable. (Euronews Business used figures from 2022, the latest year with data for all the EU’s largest economies.)
The comparison reveals striking differences between the share of national income devoted to education and the resources available per student.
Luxembourg spent only 3.74% of GDP on education in 2022, below the EU average of 4.66%. Yet it recorded the bloc’s highest expenditure per student, at 18,422 PPS — more than twice the EU average of 8,246 PPS.
Bulgaria showed the opposite pattern. Its education spending was close to the EU average as a share of GDP, at 4.5%, but it had the lowest spending per student in the bloc, at 3,097 PPS.
Among the largest economies, France spent 5.33% of GDP on education in 2022, the fifth-highest share among EU countries with available data. Yet expenditure per student was 8,151 PPS, slightly below the EU average.
Italy spent considerably less as a share of GDP, at 4.07%. Its expenditure of 7,945 PPS per student placed it immediately behind France but also slightly below the EU average.
Germany devoted a near-average 4.79% of GDP to education but spent 10,363 PPS per student — around 26% more than the EU average.
Other differences are also apparent. Malta spent a below-average 4.12% of GDP but recorded above-average expenditure per student. Slovakia devoted the same share of GDP as the EU average but spent 22% less per student.
Scores vs spending
Spending more does not automatically produce better results. Europe’s biggest education spenders are not consistently the countries with the strongest basic skills.
The OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA, provides one way to compare outcomes. It tests the reading, mathematics and science skills of 15-year-olds, although it cannot capture every aspect of an education system’s quality.
PISA classifies pupils who fail to reach Level 2 as low achievers. Level 2 is the baseline that the OECD considers necessary to participate fully in society.
In 2022, a striking 26.2% of EU pupils were low achievers in reading and 29.5% in mathematics. Both figures have worsened since 2012, when the respective shares were 18% and 22.1%.
Countries that spend more per pupil tend to record better mathematics results, but the relationship is far from automatic.
Estonia had the EU’s lowest proportion of low achievers in mathematics, at 15%, followed by Ireland and Denmark, both at around 19–20%. The same three countries also recorded the lowest shares in reading.
Denmark is among Europe’s biggest education spenders. Eurostat does not provide the necessary figures for Estonia and Ireland.
Latvia achieved relatively strong results with limited resources. It spent 4,999 PPS per student — around 39% below the EU average — but its shares of low achievers in mathematics and reading were both below the EU average.
Malta, by contrast, spent 9,658 PPS per student, around 17% above the EU average, but recorded worse-than-average results. Some 32.6% of its pupils were low achievers in mathematics and 36.3% in reading.
Cyprus spent close to the EU average per student but recorded some of the bloc’s weakest results. More than half of its students (53.2%) were low achievers. Bulgaria (53.6%) had similar results coupled with low spending.
Eurostat does not report 2022 PISA figures for Luxembourg or Switzerland. In 2018, when Luxembourg recorded the highest spending per pupil, 27.2% of its 15-year-olds were low achievers in mathematics and 29.3% in reading — showing that high spending does not automatically produce strong results.
Among the largest economies, France’s low-achievement rate in reading was 26.9%, slightly above the EU average. Germany matched the EU mathematics average of 29.5%, while Italy was marginally higher at 29.6%.
Europe remains far from its 2030 skills target
With almost three in ten EU pupils failing to reach the baseline level in mathematics, Europe remains far from its target of reducing underachievement in basic skills to below 15% by 2030.
The results also reveal a substantial socio-economic divide. In PISA 2022, 48% of EU students from the least advantaged quarter underachieved in mathematics, compared with 11% of those from the most advantaged quarter.
Demographic change could alter how education is funded. The European Commission’s Investing in Education 2025 report projects that the EU will have around 2.5 million fewer people aged between three and 18 in 2030 than in 2022.
That population is expected to decline by 3.5% overall. The largest falls are projected in Italy, at 13%; Greece, at 12%; and Spain, at 11%. Germany, by contrast, is expected to record a 9% increase.
Europe’s shrinking school-age population could create room to invest more in each pupil. According to the Commission, if total school budgets merely kept pace with annual inflation of 2%, spending per pupil would rise by an average of 19% by 2030.
The Commission report argues that improving basic skills would support productivity, innovation and economic growth. It cites estimates suggesting that European countries’ GDP could be 8% to 10% higher than currently projected by 2030 if more people achieved a sufficient level of basic skills.
According to the report, smaller classes, more personalised teaching, modernised curricula, improved teacher training and working conditions, and better use of technology could pave the way for this.
The country comparisons nevertheless suggest that success will depend not only on how much governments spend, but also on where the money goes and whether it improves learning.