OECD countries allocated an average of 9.8% of total government expenditure to education in 2023, equivalent to 4.2% of GDP (Figure C1.1), but how these two measures correlate can differ substantially. For example, Chile allocated the largest share of government expenditure to education, at 15.6%, which amounted to 4.4% of GDP, while the 8.1% of government expenditure France allocated to education, translated into a higher share of its GDP spent on education (4.6%), due to its large public sector.
Governments spent on average USD 13 859 per student in public institutions and USD 8 711 in private institutions at primary to post-secondary non-tertiary levels in 2023. The difference is even greater for tertiary education where public expenditure per student in public institutions is USD 18 928 compared with USD 6 202 in private institutions.
In 2023, on average across OECD countries, 66% of expenditure in educational institutions went to staff compensation at primary to tertiary level, compared to 24% for other current expenditure and 9% for capital expenditure. Belgium devotes the largest share of expenditure to staff compensation (79%) and also has among the highest expenditure on all staff compensation per full-time equivalent student (USD 13 909).
Education at a Glance 2026
Context
Governments invest in education to support a range of economic and social objectives, including promoting equal opportunities, strengthening skills and productivity, supporting social cohesion and fostering long-term economic growth. At the same time, education systems operate in environments characterised by changing demographics, labour-market demands, fiscal constraints and evolving expectations regarding educational quality and access. Financing education therefore requires policy choices not only about the overall level of investment, but also about how resources are distributed across levels of education, types of institutions and student populations.
Education systems are financed through different combinations of public and private resources. Although governments remain the principal source of funding for education, private contributions from households and companies often play a greater role in tertiary education and in some privately managed institutions. The balance between public and private financing reflects broader policy choices regarding cost-sharing and the organisation of educational provision. Understanding how funding is allocated across sectors and institutions can therefore provide insight into countries’ education priorities and financing models.
Understanding how much countries invest in education is only one dimension of education finance. It is equally important to examine how resources are allocated and spent within educational institutions, including the balance between expenditure on staff and infrastructure. In particular, staff compensation may affect the attractiveness of the teaching profession and play an important role in countries’ ability to address teacher shortages.
This chapter provides a broad picture of key education finance indicators, setting out how OECD countries are responding to the challenge of financing education systems. It distinguishes between the levels that mostly cover schooling (i.e. primary to post-secondary non-tertiary education) and tertiary education. It also considers how resources are distributed across institutions, funding sources and geographical areas. Subsequent chapters offer more detailed insights into expenditure patterns and financing arrangements in specific levels of education.
Total expenditure on education (inside and outside of educational institutions), primary to tertiary education, in per cent
1. Data include or exclude some categories, please refer to the source table for more information.
For data, see Table C1.7 (available online). The data for this figure can be accessed via https://stat.link/ax7gjn.
Other findings
Governments financed 70% of expenditure in tertiary institutions on average. Government sources accounted for more than 85% of expenditure in Austria, Finland, Iceland, Luxembourg and Norway, with Norway recording the highest public share at 94%.
Between 2015 and 2023, public spending on education as a share of GDP remained broadly stable across OECD countries, declining only slightly from 4.4% to 4.2% of GDP on average, despite major fiscal disruptions, including the COVID-19 pandemic, inflationary pressures and rising energy costs.
Regional differences in expenditure per student remain substantial in some large and decentralised education systems, particularly in Canada and the United States, while variation was comparatively moderate in smaller countries such as Belgium and Lithuania.
Government expenditure on education as a share of GDP and as a share of government expenditure on all services
Assessing investment in education requires more than a single measure because each indicator answers a different policy question. Government expenditure on education as a share of GDP shows how much of a country’s overall economic resources the government devotes to education. This is useful for assessing whether education investment is keeping pace with national income. Expenditure on education as a share of government expenditure on all services answers a different question: how much priority education receives compared with other public services. This is important for budget decisions because governments also face competing demands from areas such as health and defence. These indicators should also be read alongside other indicators such as expenditure per student, private spending and how resources are distributed across levels of education. For example, countries with similar income levels and similar education spending as a share of GDP may still differ in their spending per student because of differences in the size of their student populations.
In 2023, OECD countries allocated an average of 9.8% of total government expenditure to education from primary to tertiary levels, equivalent to 4.2% of GDP. However, substantial differences across countries illustrate that public investment in education depends both on the priority assigned to education within government budgets and on the overall level of public expenditure relative to economic output. Taken together, these two indicators point to four broad groups of countries with differing approaches to financing education (Figure C1.1).
The first group of countries combines high budgetary prioritisation with high levels of spending relative to economic output, allocating around 10% or more of total government expenditure to education and over 5% of GDP to education. These include Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Israel, Norway and Sweden. In these countries, education forms a significant component of public spending and benefits from relatively high levels of public investment overall. Several Nordic countries stand out in this category, with expenditure on education among the highest shares of GDP across OECD countries (Figure C1.1).
The second group allocates a large share of public budgets to education, while spending a more moderate share of GDP. Chile provides a clear example: it allocates the largest share of total government expenditure to education (15.6%), yet this amounts to 4.4% of GDP, only slightly above the OECD average. This pattern suggests that education occupies a particularly prominent place in public budgets, even if overall spending relative to economic output is less exceptional. Ireland and Saudi Arabia show similar patterns, with Ireland combining high budgetary priority with one of the lowest shares of GDP devoted to education (Figure C1.1). Note however that GDP-based indicators in Ireland should be interpreted with caution as its GDP is highly volatile, driven by multinational-dominated sectors (OECD, 2025[1]).
The third group of countries gives education more moderate priority in their budgets but this translates into comparatively high expenditure relative to GDP, reflecting their larger public sectors. Countries allocating less than 9% of total government expenditure to education while devoting around 4.0% or more of GDP include Austria, France and Germany. France, for example, allocates 8.1% of government expenditure to education, below the OECD average (9.9%), while spending 4.6% of GDP, above the OECD average. Austria and Germany show similar patterns, with education representing a comparatively small share of public expenditure, while expenditure relative to economic output remains close to or above the OECD average. These patterns are consistent with countries where relatively high levels of overall public expenditure help sustain education spending relative to economic output (Figure C1.1).
Finally, some countries record lower levels for both indicators, suggesting more limited public spending on education relative to both fiscal priorities and economic output. Greece, Hungary and Romania allocate comparatively smaller shares of both government expenditure and GDP to education. In these systems, education represents a less prominent component of public budgets and overall spending relative to the size of the economy is also comparatively low (Figure C1.1).
Changes in government expenditure on education as a share of GDP
Between 2015 and 2023, government expenditure on education as a share of GDP declined slightly across OECD countries, from 4.4% to 4.2% on average (Figure C1.2). In many countries, expenditure relative to GDP also remained broadly stable, with only modest changes between 2015 and 2023, although others saw very strong declines in expenditure. These limited changes represent a notable degree of stability in public investment in education during a period marked by major economic and fiscal disruptions. Many countries experienced sustained economic growth in the years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by sharp increases in public expenditure during the pandemic to support health systems, households and economic activity. More recently, governments have faced additional fiscal pressures linked to high inflation and rising energy costs.
Expenditure patterns nevertheless evolved differently in some countries. Chile and Czechia, for example, recorded increases of around 0.5 percentage points of GDP between 2015 and 2023. In Chile, the increase raised its public education expenditure above the OECD average, while in Czechia it represented a gradual strengthening from comparatively lower levels. These changes may reflect efforts to expand participation or improve educational provision, although broader economic conditions may also have affected the GDP denominator. By contrast, Brazil, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Ireland, Latvia and Mexico recorded notable decreases. Bulgaria experienced the largest decline, from 5.7% of GDP in 2015 to 3.3% in 2023, while Costa Rica also saw a marked reduction over the period (Figure C1.2).
Total government expenditure on education (inside and outside of educational institutions); primary to tertiary education
1. Data include or exclude some categories, please refer to the source table for more information.
For data, see Table C1.7 (available online). The data for this figure can be accessed via https://stat.link/ax7gjn.
Cross-country differences in the overall level of investment in education remained substantial in 2023. At one end of the distribution, expenditure remained below 3.0% of GDP in Ireland, Japan, Mexico and Romania, indicating comparatively lower levels of public investment in education relative to GDP. At the other end, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Israel, Norway and Sweden continued to devote more than 5.0% of GDP to education (Figure C1.2). The concentration of Nordic countries in this group reflects models of public investment characterised by relatively large public sectors and strong commitments to universal public services. In these countries, education forms part of a broader social model in which governments play a comparatively large role in financing social and human capital investments.
Expenditure in public and private educational institutions
Government expenditure per student in public and private institutions provides insight into how countries allocate public resources across different types of education providers. Even though they are privately managed, at least half of the expenditure on government-dependent private institutions comes from the government and in many countries, government remains an important – sometimes the main – source of funding for students enrolled in these institutions (Table C1.1). Comparing expenditure levels across sectors therefore helps illustrate the extent of public support to privately managed institutions and the degree to which governments seek to provide comparable levels of resources across institutional types.
Differences in government expenditure between public and private institutions may reflect a range of factors, including the scope of public funding, regulatory frameworks, student composition and the organisation of education systems. In some countries, public expenditure levels are relatively similar across sectors, reflecting funding arrangements aimed at supporting broadly comparable educational provision. In others, public expenditure is concentrated more heavily in public institutions, with private institutions playing a more complementary role (Figure C1.3).
Expenditure on educational institutions in equivalent USD converted using PPPs for GDP; primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary
1. Data include or exclude some categories, please refer to the source table for more information.
2. Year of reference 2022.
For data, see Table C1.1. The data for this figure can be accessed via https://stat.link/ax7gjn
On average, governments in OECD countries spent USD 13 859 per full-time equivalent student in public institutions at primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary levels, compared to USD 8 711 in private institutions in 2023. However, expenditure levels varied substantially across countries and types of institutions, reflecting broader differences in public spending capacity. In public institutions, public expenditure per student exceeded USD 20 000 in Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland, while remaining below USD 5 000 in China, Colombia, Mexico, South Africa and the Republic of Türkiye. Luxembourg recorded the highest level of expenditure per student (USD 34 515), substantially above the OECD average. These differences illustrate the diversity in the level of resources available to educational institutions across countries, even after accounting for differences in purchasing power (Figure C1.3).
In most countries, government expenditure per student remained higher in public institutions than in private institutions, although the size of the difference varied considerably. Particularly large gaps were observed in China, Costa Rica, Greece, Saudi Arabia and the United States, where government expenditure per student in private institutions represented only a small fraction of that in public institutions (Figure C1.3).
In contrast, expenditure levels in public and private institutions are more comparable in Hungary, Israel, Korea and the Slovak Republic, suggesting funding arrangements that provide relatively similar levels of public resources per student across institutional types. Denmark, Hungary, Israel and Switzerland stand out as exceptions, with government expenditure per student in private institutions exceeding expenditure in public institutions, highlighting the diversity of financing arrangements across education systems. In Denmark, government-dependent private institutions account for only a very limited number of students at this level (Figure C1.3).
Adequate and equitable investment per student is also a key indicator in the SDG 4 monitoring framework, reflecting countries' commitment to ensuring inclusive and quality education for all, particularly under Target 4.5 on reducing disparities in education. Comparing expenditure per student across levels of education and funding sources provides an important measure of the resources available to support learning and of countries' capacity to ensure equitable educational opportunities. Readers interested in exploring this indicator across countries and years can consult the SDG 4 Dashboard.
Distribution of expenditure by source of funds
The distribution of expenditure on educational institutions by source of funds provides insight into how countries share the cost of education between governments, households and other private actors, as well as the contribution of non-domestic sources, such as international organisations. Differences in funding structures reflect broader policy choices and the balance between public and private responsibility for financing education.
This section presents expenditure by source of funds before government transfers to the private sector. This means that funding is attributed to the source that initially provides it, rather than to the sector that makes the final payment to educational institutions. For example, if a household pays tuition fees using a government scholarship or a student loan intended for tuition, this amount is counted as government funding before transfers, rather than as private funding. Similarly, transfers from non-domestic sources to government are treated as non-domestic funding, not government funding. This approach therefore shows who initially finances expenditure on educational institutions.
In 2023, on average across OECD countries, across primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education, government sources accounted for 90% of initial expenditure before transfers, compared to 8% from private sources and 2% from non-domestic sources. In Finland, Norway and Sweden, initial funding is entirely public and it accounted for over 95% of expenditure in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria and Iceland. Private sources accounted for a larger share of initial funding in a smaller group of countries, representing over 15% of expenditure before transfers in Australia, Chile and Ireland. Finally, only Estonia, Greece and the Slovak Republic recorded over 5% of expenditure from non-domestic sources, signalling that in most countries non-domestic sources account for a small share of initial funding (Table C1.6, available online).
At tertiary level, on average, governments financed 70% of expenditure on educational institutions in 2023, while private sources contributed 24% and non-domestic sources accounted for 6%. Financing arrangements varied considerably at this level across countries, reflecting different approaches to the funding of tertiary education systems. Government sources accounted for more than 85% of expenditure in Austria, Finland, Iceland, Luxembourg and Norway. Norway, for example, recorded the highest public share (94%), reflecting a model in which tertiary education is largely publicly funded and tuition fees are limited (Figure C1.4).
Expenditure on educational institutions before transfers to the private sector; tertiary education (including R&D)
1. Data include or exclude some categories, please refer to the source table for more information.
2. Year of reference 2022.
For data, see Table C1.6 (available online). The data for this figure can be accessed via https://stat.link/ax7gjn.
By contrast, private sources accounted for at least half of expenditure at tertiary level in Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom recorded the highest private share (55%), followed by Israel where 54% of funding came from private sources. In these systems, private contributions such as tuition fees paid by households and international students play a comparatively larger role in financing tertiary education (Figure C1.4).
Non-domestic funding accounted for a relatively small share of expenditure in most countries, but played a more important role in some systems. Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania and Portugal recorded the largest shares of non-domestic funding (Figure C1.4). This may reflect the role of international funding programmes from the European Union. For example, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) invested EUR 147 million for research infrastructure in Portugal and EUR 339 million for research and innovation to strengthen science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) career pathways. This comes alongside other initiatives in Portugal to increase the number of tertiary STEM graduates in first-cycle programmes and short-term courses (European Commission, 2025[2]).
Expenditure per student for reference year 2024
Some countries were able to provide an early indication of how expenditure per student evolved between 2023 and 2024. Expressed in constant 2020 prices, the available data suggest generally stable or moderately increasing levels of expenditure per student across most levels of education. Among most of the countries with available data for both 2023 and 2024, expenditure on primary to tertiary education per student increased moderately. Lithuania recorded the largest increase (10.2%), followed by New Zealand (4.6%), Germany (2.8%) and Denmark (2.7%), while expenditure remained broadly stable in Spain (1.2%), Sweden (1.2%), Slovenia (1.0%), Israel (-0.2%) and the Netherlands (-1.1%). These early trends suggest that, despite continued fiscal pressures in many countries, education expenditure per student generally kept pace with or exceeded inflation (Table C1.9, available online).
Distribution of expenditure within educational institutions
Expenditure within educational institutions can broadly be divided into three categories: current expenditure on staff compensation, other current expenditure (such as teaching materials, support services, school operations, maintenance, student meals and rents) and capital expenditure on infrastructure and equipment. The distribution of funding is particularly relevant in the current context of teacher shortages. Staff compensation represents the largest component of education expenditure in most countries and can influence the attractiveness of education careers, including the recruitment and retention of teachers. However, any measure increasing compensation of staff has large budget implications due to the size of the teaching staff population.
In 2023, across primary to tertiary education, OECD countries allocated an average of 66% of expenditure to staff compensation, compared to 24% for other current expenditure and 9% for capital expenditure. Belgium recorded the highest share among OECD countries with available data, at 79%, followed by Bulgaria at 76%. These high shares indicate that a particularly large proportion of institutional expenditure is directed towards personnel costs, although they do not necessarily imply higher salaries for individual teachers, as they also depend on the number and composition of staff employed (Table C1.2),
Other current expenditure covers goods and services used in education, including contracted and purchased services such as building maintenance, ancillary services such as student meals, and rents paid for school buildings or other facilities. In some countries, this category represented a larger share of expenditure. Chile, Czechia and Finland, for example, allocated more than one-third of expenditure to other current costs, suggesting a greater role for operating costs, support services or purchased services in the organisation of educational provision (Table C1.2).
Capital expenditure represented a comparatively small share of total expenditure in most OECD countries. However, it was higher in Australia, Greece, Hungary, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Türkiye, where it accounted for more than 12% of total expenditure. Peru stood out among partner countries, with 21% of expenditure devoted to capital investment. Higher capital expenditure may reflect infrastructure investment cycles, expansion of capacity or efforts to modernise educational facilities (Table C1.2).
Regional disparities
Regional differences in expenditure per student provide insight into the extent to which resources available to educational institutions differ within countries. In Lithuania, expenditure per student varied by less than USD 300 between regions, indicating similar levels of resources across the country. Similarly, in Belgium, expenditure per student differed by less than USD 2 000 between the Flemish and French Communities (Figure C1.5).
Larger countries with more regions tend to have more pronounced variation across regions. This is the case in the United States, for example, where in 2021, expenditure per student ranged from less than USD 10 000 in Idaho to more than USD 31 000 in the District of Columbia. The situation in 2023 is similar in Canada where expenditure ranged from around USD 12 800 per student in Newfoundland and Labrador to about USD 29 800 in the Northwest Territories, with northern and remote regions recording substantially higher expenditure levels. These differences may reflect the higher costs of providing education in sparsely populated and geographically remote areas (Figure C1.5).
In equivalent USD converted using PPPs; primary and secondary education
1. Includes post-secondary non-tertiary education.
2. Education finance data for Canada are calendarised, but not for subnational data.
3. Data refer to public expenditure on non-university education per student in public institutions. Only public expenditure is reported, implying that private expenditure on public institutions is not included.
4. Reference year 2021. Data refer to public institutions only. ISCED 02 is included in the ISCED 1-3 total for both spending and enrolment counts. Total expenditure includes current expenditure and capital outlays.
The data for this figure can be accessed via https://stat.link/ax7gjn.
However, regional variation remained comparatively moderate in Germany, despite education being organised across 16 Länder with substantial responsibility for education funding (OECD, 2020[3]). Expenditure per student ranged from USD 15 100 in Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia to nearly USD 20 000 in Berlin, a narrower range than observed in other similarly decentralised systems (Figure C1.5).
Differences in regional expenditure per student should be interpreted cautiously. Differences across regions may reflect differences in local costs, student populations and governance arrangements. Higher expenditure levels may therefore reflect higher costs associated with service delivery, demographic factors or targeted funding for specific student populations, rather than differences in the quality or effectiveness of education provision.
Educational institutions can be divided into two categories: public and private. An institution is classified as private if its overall control and management rest with a non-governmental organisation (e.g. a church, trade union, business enterprise or foreign or international agency) and if most of the members of its governing board are not selected by a public agency. Private institutions can be further divided into government-dependent and independent private institutions. A government-dependent private institution is a private institution that receives 50% or more of its core funding from government agencies, or one whose teaching personnel are paid by a government agency or by the government directly. An independent private institution is a private institution that receives less than 50% of its core funding from government agencies and whose teaching personnel are not paid by a government agency.
Expenditure on educational institutions refers to expenditure on educational goods and services within both teaching (e.g. schools, universities and colleges) and non-teaching institutions (ministries and local authorities). It excludes expenditure outside educational institutions, even if publicly subsidised (e.g. private tutoring outside educational institutions, the purchase of textbooks and other materials, and students’ living expenses).
Final spending reflects actual disbursements to educational institutions after public-private transfers. Final government spending includes direct government purchases of educational resources and payments to educational institutions. Final private spending includes direct expenditure on educational institutions (e.g. tuition fees), whether partially covered by government subsidies or not. It also includes expenditure by private companies on the work-based element of combined school- and work-based programmes. Final non-domestic spending includes direct non-domestic payments to educational institutions such as research grants or other funds from non-domestic sources paid directly to educational institutions.
Government expenditure on educational institutions can take the form of purchases by a government agency of educational resources to be used by educational institutions, or funding provided by a government agency to educational institutions to make such purchases.
Government transfers to the private sector include two categories. Government transfers to households include transfers that translate into payments to educational institutions for educational services (e.g. scholarships or student loans for tuition). Government transfers to other private entities include, for example, subsidies to firms that host apprentices and interest subsidies to private financial institutions that provide student loans.
Initial government spending includes direct government expenditure on educational institutions and transfers to the private sector. It excludes transfers from non-domestic sources. Initial private spending includes tuition fees and other household payments to educational institutions, minus the portion of such payments offset by government subsidies. Initial non-domestic spending includes direct non-domestic expenditure on educational institutions (e.g. a research grant from a foreign corporation to a public university) and transfers from non-domestic sources to governments.
Private expenditure on educational institutions includes tuition fees and other private payments to educational institutions, whether or not supported by government subsidies. Private sources of expenditure include households (students and their families) and other private entities, such as businesses and non-profit organisations.
Research and development includes research performed at tertiary educational institutions, regardless of whether it is financed from general institutional funds or through separate grants or contracts from public or private sponsors.
The framework that underpins the education finance indicators contained in Part C is built around three dimensions (for details see Education at a Glance 2026 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes, (https://doi.org/10.1787/dcf64a14-en):
The location of service providers. This dimension distinguishes between the spending that occurs in educational institutions and spending that takes place outside them. In this context, educational institutions include both teaching institutions (e.g. schools and universities) and non-teaching institutions (e.g. education ministries). Examples of spending outside educational institutions include books purchased outside institutions, fees for private tutoring and student living costs.
The type of goods and services. This dimension allows spending on core educational purposes (e.g. expenditure on teachers, school buildings, books, administration of schools) to be differentiated from other education-related expenditures (e.g. research and development, ancillary services such as meals and housing).
The source of funds. The framework distinguishes between three sources of funds. Government expenditure refers to spending by public authorities. Private expenditure refers to spending by households and other private entities (e.g. companies). International funds consist of funds from public multilateral organisations for development aid to education.
Expenditure and GDP values in national currencies are converted to equivalent USD by dividing the national currency figure by the purchasing power parity (PPP) index for GDP. The PPP conversion factor is used instead of the market exchange rate, because exchange rates are affected by various factors (e.g. interest rates, trade policies or expectations of economic growth) that do not necessarily reflect relative domestic purchasing power across countries. The use of purchasing power parity-adjusted US dollars (USD PPP) accounts for differences in price levels between countries. Subnational expenditure data are adjusted using national PPPs. If the reference periods for education expenditure and GDP differ, the expenditure data are adjusted to match the GDP reference period using relevant national inflation rates (see Annex 2 for further details). Trend data are expressed in constant 2020 US dollars to account for inflation and ensure comparability over time.
Expenditure per full-time equivalent (FTE) student is calculated for primary to tertiary education, and only for programmes and educational institutions with both enrolment and expenditure data. This measure is affected by how countries report the number of FTE students, especially at tertiary level, where part-time study is more common. Some countries count all students as full time, while others calculate the number of FTE students based on students’ intensity of participation – for example by using credits earned during a specific period towards the targeted qualification. All else being equal, countries that calculate FTE students based on part-time enrolment will report higher expenditure per FTE student than those that report all students as full time.
In keeping with the system used by many countries to record government expenditures and revenues, educational expenditure data are compiled on a cash accounting rather than an accrual accounting basis. Therefore expenditure (both capital and current) is recorded in the year in which the payments occurred. In particular:
Capital acquisitions are counted fully in the year in which the expenditure occurs.
Depreciation of capital assets is not recorded as expenditure, although expenditure on repairs and maintenance is recorded in the year it occurs. This can result in sharp fluctuations in expenditure from year to year owing to the start or completion of school building projects which, by their nature, are sporadic.
Expenditure on student loans is recorded as the gross loan outlay in the year in which the loans are made, without subtracting repayments or interest payments from existing borrowers.
A notable exception to the cash accounting rules is the treatment of the retirement costs of educational personnel in situations where there are no (or only partial) ongoing employer contributions towards the future retirement benefits of the personnel. In these cases, countries are asked to impute these expenditures to arrive at a more internationally comparable cost of employing the personnel.
At tertiary level, many countries operate a loan payment/repayment system. While public loan payments are included in expenditure figures, loan repayments from private individuals are not. As a result, private contributions to education costs may be underestimated.
For more detailed information, please refer to the OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics (OECD, 2018[4]). For country-specific notes, see Education at a Glance 2026 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes (https://doi.org/10.1787/dcf64a14-en).
Data refer to the financial year 2023 (unless otherwise specified) and are based on the UNESCO, OECD and Eurostat (UOE) data collection on education statistics administered by the OECD in 2025 (for details see Education at a Glance 2026 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes,(https://doi.org/10.1787/dcf64a14-en).
Data for China, India, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia are from the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS), while data for Argentina and South Africa are partly sourced from UIS.
References
[2] European Commission (2025), Education and Training Monitor 2025: Portugal, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, https://op.europa.eu/webpub/eac/education-and-training-monitor/en/country-reports/portugal.html.
[1] OECD (2025), OECD Economic Surveys: Ireland 2025, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9a368560-en.
[3] OECD (2020), “Education Policy Outlook in Germany”, OECD Education Policy Perspectives, No. 16, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/47b795b1-en.
[4] OECD (2018), OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics 2018: Concepts, Standards, Definitions and Classifications, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264304444-en.
The data for the figures and tables in this chapter can be downloaded via https://stat.link/ax7gjn..
To access further data and/or other education indicators, please visit the OECD Data Explorer: http://data-explorer.oecd.org/s/4s.
Data cut-off for the print publication 17 June 2026. Please note that the Data Explorer contains the most recent data.
a – category not applicable; b – break in series; d – contains data from another column; m – missing data; u – partial data; x – contained in another column (indicated in brackets). For further control codes, see the Reader’s Guide.
For further methodological information, see Education at a Glance 2026: Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes (https://doi.org/10.1787/dcf64a14-en).
Expenditure on educational institutions; in equivalent USD converted using PPPs for GDP; by level of education
Note: Columns showing data by type of institution (public and private) are available for consultation online.
1. Includes some expenditure outside educational institutions, such as scholarships or student loans.
2. Excludes local government expenditure on post-secondary non-tertiary private institutions.
3. Includes expenditure on post-secondary non-tertiary institutions in lower and upper secondary education.
4. Excludes expenditure on post-secondary non-tertiary institutions.
5. Excludes payments from private sources to educational institutions and expenditure on private institutions by local governments and international sources.
6. Government expenditure on independent private institutions is included in government-dependent private institutions (web columns).
7. Lower and upper secondary education includes post-secondary non-tertiary education.
8. Excludes expenditure from international sources. Includes private expenditure for goods and services required directly or indirectly by educational institutions.
9. Expenditure on public educational institutions includes transfers from international sources to the government and private educational institutions.
10. Includes expenditure on post-secondary non-tertiary institutions in upper secondary and tertiary education.
11. Total expenditure on short-cycle tertiary education excludes the payments to private institutions from non-educational private entities.
12. Excludes some local government expenditure (web columns).
13. Excludes some expenditure from private sources.
14. Excludes government and private expenditure on independent private institutions (web columns).
15. Year of reference 2022.
16. Excludes international and household expenditure on primary education. Lower and upper secondary categories include only lower secondary expenditure. The data for this table can be accessed via https://stat.link/ax7gjn.
In per cent; expenditure from all sources within educational institutions; by level of education
1. Includes expenditure on post-secondary non-tertiary institutions in lower and upper secondary education.
2. Excludes current expenditure on post-secondary non-tertiary institutions.
3. Lower and upper secondary education includes post-secondary non-tertiary education
4. Includes current expenditure on ancillary services and R&D activities.
5. Excludes some current and capital expenditure on independent private institutions.
6. Excludes some current and capital expenditure on private institutions.
7. Current expenditure in lower and upper secondary education includes expenditure on post-secondary non-tertiary institutions.
8. Current expenditure in lower and upper secondary education includes expenditure on short-cycle tertiary institutions.
9. Includes expenditure on ancillary services.
10. Year of reference 2022.
11. Excludes current expenditure on non-teaching staff.
The data for this table can be accessed via https://stat.link/ax7gjn.
Expenditure from all sources within educational institutions; constant prices (2020 = 100); by level of education
Note: Columns showing data for primary to tertiary education and the percentage change between 2015 and 2023 are available for consultation online.
1. Current expenditure on total teacher staff excludes public expenditure.
2. Includes expenditure on post-secondary non-tertiary institutions in lower and upper secondary education.
3. Excludes current expenditure on post-secondary non-tertiary institutions.
4. Excludes some current expenditure on private institutions.
5. Lower and upper secondary education includes post-secondary non-tertiary education
6. Excludes some current expenditure on independent private institutions.
7. Excludes some current expenditure on lower secondary institutions.
8. Includes expenditure on post-secondary non-tertiary institutions in upper secondary and tertiary education.
9. Excludes current government expenditure on primary and secondary public institutions.
10. Current expenditure in lower and upper secondary education includes expenditure on short-cycle tertiary institutions.
11. Excludes current expenditure on non-teaching staff.
The data for this table can be accessed via https://stat.link/ax7gjn.
Expenditure on educational institutions; by level of education
Note: Columns showing data by type of institution (public and private) are available for consultation online.
1. Includes some expenditure outside educational institutions, such as scholarships or student loans.
2. Excludes local government expenditure on post-secondary non-tertiary private institutions.
3. Includes expenditure on post-secondary non-tertiary institutions in lower and upper secondary education.
4. Excludes expenditure on post-secondary non-tertiary institutions.
5. Excludes some local government expenditure.
6. Excludes expenditure from international sources
7. Excludes some expenditure from private sources.
8. Lower and upper secondary education includes post-secondary non-tertiary education
9. Includes private expenditure for goods and services required directly or indirectly by educational institutions.
10. Excludes some expenditure from private sources on private institutions.
11. Includes expenditure on post-secondary non-tertiary institutions in upper secondary and tertiary education.
12. Excludes payments to private institutions from non-educational private entities in short-cycle tertiary education.
13. Year of reference 2022.
14. Excludes international sources and household expenditure on primary education. Lower and upper secondary categories include only lower secondary expenditure.
The data for this table can be accessed via https://stat.link/ax7gjn.