On average, OECD countries spend USD 10 500 a year on educational institutions to educate each student from primary to tertiary education. This represents about USD 8 600 per student at primary level, USD 10 000 at secondary level and USD 15 700 at tertiary level.
In non-tertiary education (primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary levels), 94% of institutions’ expenditure per student is devoted to core educational services (such as teaching costs), and the remaining is devoted to ancillary services (such as student welfare). At the tertiary level, a much lower share of institutional expenditure goes to core services (68%), while roughly 30% of total educational expenditure per student is on research and development.
Across OECD countries, students enrolled at primary or secondary school between the age of 6 and 15 add up to a total cumulative expenditure of around USD 91 000 per student.
Education at a Glance 2018
Indicator C1. How much is spent per student on educational institutions?
Figure C1.1. Total expenditure on educational institutions per student, by type of service (2015)
Countries are ranked in descending order of total expenditure per student on educational institutions.
Source: OECD / UIS / Eurostat (2018), Table C1.2. See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-36-en).
Context
The willingness of policy makers to expand access to educational opportunities and to provide high-quality education can translate into higher costs per student and must be balanced against other demands on public expenditure and the overall tax burden. As a result, the question of whether the resources devoted to education yield adequate returns features prominently in the public debate. Although it is difficult to assess the optimal volume of resources needed to prepare each student for life and work in modern societies, international comparisons of spending on educational institutions per student can provide useful reference points (see Definitions and Methodology sections).
This indicator provides an assessment of the investment in each student. Expenditure per student on educational institutions is largely influenced by teachers’ salaries (see Indicators C7 and D3), pension systems, instructional and teaching hours (see Indicator C7), the cost of teaching materials and facilities (see Indicator C6), the programme provided (e.g. general or vocational) and the number of students enrolled in the education system (see Indicator B1). Policies to attract new teachers, reduce average class size or change staffing patterns (see Indicator D2) have also affected per-student expenditure. Ancillary services and research and development (R&D) activities can also influence the level of expenditure per student.
At primary and secondary levels, educational expenditure is dominated by spending on instructional services. At the tertiary level, other services, particularly those related to ancillary services or R&D activities, can account for a significant proportion of educational spending. Indicator C6 provides further information on how spending is distributed by the different types of services provided.
Other findings
In almost all countries, expenditure on educational institutions per student increases at each educational level, with the exception of post-secondary non-tertiary education, where the average expenditure per student is around the level in primary education or lower than in other levels.
On average, private sources in OECD countries spend more than USD 4 600 per student in tertiary levels of education. This share represents around 40% of the investment per student made by governments at the same level (USD 11 100).
From 2010 to 2015, expenditure on non-tertiary educational institutions increased by 4% on average across OECD countries, while the number of students decreased by 1% , resulting in an increase of 5% in expenditure per student over the same period.
The orientation of secondary school programmes influences expenditure on educational institutions per student in most countries. On average, across the 27 OECD countries with separate data on expenditure per student for general and vocational programmes at upper secondary levels, the cost per student in a vocational programme was almost USD 2 000 more than in a general programme in 2015.
Excluding activities peripheral to instruction (R&D and ancillary services, such as student welfare services), OECD countries annually spend an average of USD 9 800 per student from primary to tertiary education.
Annual expenditure per student on educational institutions as a share of GDP per capita amounts to 22% at primary level and 25% at secondary level on average across OECD countries. The figure is much higher at tertiary level, where countries spend on average 38% of GDP per capita on funding short-cycle, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.
Analysis
Expenditure per student on educational institutions at different levels of education
Annual expenditure per student on educational institutions between primary and tertiary education provides an assessment of the investment made in each student. In 2015, annual spending per student from primary to tertiary education ranged from around USD 3 000 or slightly more in Colombia and Mexico to more than USD 15 000 in Austria, Norway and the United States and nearly USD 22 000 in Luxembourg (Table C1.1 and Figure C1.1). Across the OECD, countries spend on average USD 10 500.
Methods of resource allocation across the different levels of education vary widely and are largely a reflection of the mode of educational provision. Education still essentially takes place in settings with generally similar organisation, curriculum, teaching style and management. These shared features have tended to result in similar patterns of unit expenditure from primary through post-secondary non-tertiary levels. In recent decades, however, greater use of private funds for tertiary education has modified the allocation pattern of expenditure at this level compared to lower ones (see Indicator C3, and Table C1.5, available on line). In 2015, OECD countries on average spent around USD 8 600 per student at the primary level, USD 10 000 at the secondary level and USD 15 700 at the tertiary level, although at this level, the average is affected by high expenditure in a few OECD countries, most notably Australia, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States (Table C1.1 and Figure C1.1). These differences in annual expenditure on educational institutions per student at each level of education can also lead to large differences in the cumulative expenditure per student over the duration of studies (Table C1.6, available on line). Significant differences are also observed at the subnational level (Box C1.1).
Comparisons of the distribution of expenditure at different levels of education reflect the relative emphasis of governments at these levels as well as the relative costs of education provision. Expenditure per student on educational institutions rises with the level of education in almost all countries, but the range varies markedly across countries (Table C1.1). OECD countries spend on average 15% more per secondary student than they do per primary student. This percentage is around 60% in the Czech Republic and France, and slightly over 50% in the Netherlands, but countries invest more per primary student than they do per secondary student in Chile, Colombia, Iceland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Similarly, educational institutions in OECD countries spend an average of 30% more on each tertiary student (excluding R&D) than on each primary student mostly because education policies vary more at the tertiary level (see Indicator C5). For example, Mexico and the United States spend at least 120% more on a tertiary student (excluding R&D) than on a primary student (Table C1.1).
Box C1.1. Subnational variation in annual expenditure per student on educational institutions
Annual expenditure per student is not homogeneous within countries. Among the four countries providing data, large differences are observed across regions within a country in 2015. The Russian Federation is the country with the highest subnational range in terms of annual expenditure per student on educational institutions at primary and secondary levels combined with a ratio of 9 between the region with the highest and the region with the lowest value, ranging from around USD 2 700 to USD 25 000. Canada is the country with the second-largest subnational range, with a ratio of almost 3 between the top and bottom regions in terms of expenditure per student at primary and secondary levels. Regional differences are the smallest in Belgium and Germany (countries with few subnational regions) (OECD/NCES, 2018[1]).
An examination of homogeneity in spending at primary and secondary levels within countries show that 57 out of 85 regions in the Russian Federation devoted a lower annual expenditure per student than the national average, indicating that the peak values benefit a select minority of regions. This is contrast to Canada where less than 50% of the 13 provinces and territories provide a lower level of expenditure than the national average. In Germany, 6 out of the 9 Länder that spend less than the national average are mainly located in the western part of the country. This could be explained by the sharp demographic downturn in the eastern Länder (OECD/NCES, 2018[1]).
To make these comparisons across countries, expenditure figures were converted into common currency (USD) using national purchasing power parities (PPPs). However, differences in the cost of living within countries were not taken into account.
Expenditure per student on core education services, ancillary services and R&D
On average across OECD countries, expenditure on core education services (such as teaching costs) represents 86% of total expenditure per student from primary to tertiary educational institutions and it exceeds 90% in Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg and Poland. In 9 of the 25 OECD and partner countries for which data are available, annual expenditure on R&D and ancillary services per student from primary to tertiary education accounts for around 15%-30% of the total annual expenditure per student and can influence the ranking of countries for all services combined.
However, this overall picture masks large variations among levels of education (Table C1.2). At non-tertiary levels (primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary), expenditure is dominated by spending on core education services. On average, OECD countries for which data are available spend 94% of the total per-student expenditure (USD 9 400) on core educational services. However, in Finland, France, Hungary, the Slovak Republic, Sweden and the United Kingdom, ancillary services account for 10% or slightly more of the expenditure per student (Table C1.2).
Greater differences are observed in the proportion of total expenditure on educational institutions per student devoted to core services at the tertiary level, partly because R&D expenditure can account for a significant proportion of educational spending (Table C1.2). Across OECD countries, 68% of total expenditure on educational institutions at tertiary level goes to core services, while almost 30% of total educational expenditure is on research and development. The OECD countries in which most R&D is performed in tertiary education institutions tend to report higher expenditure per student than those in which a large proportion of R&D is performed in other public institutions or in industry. Excluding R&D activities, average expenditure per student in all countries accounts for over USD 11 200, ranging from around USD 2 600 in Greece to more than USD 40 000 in Luxembourg. On average across OECD countries, expenditure on R&D and ancillary services at the tertiary level represents 32% of all tertiary expenditure on educational institutions per student. In 7 of the OECD and partner countries for which data are available, expenditure on R&D and ancillary services in tertiary institutions is at least 40% of total expenditure on educational institutions per student, with the Slovak Republic (50%) and Sweden (54%) the countries with the highest shares. Ancillary services are even less important in tertiary education than at lower levels. On average, only 4% of expenditure on tertiary institutions targets ancillary services, and the amount is negligible in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Israel, Korea and Sweden. The United Kingdom and the United States stand out for spending over USD 2 000 per student on ancillary services in their tertiary institutions.
Cumulative expenditure over the expected duration of studies
Policy makers are interested in the relationship between the resources devoted to education and the outcomes of education systems (Box B1.1 in Education at a Glance 2017 (OECD, 2017[2])). In order to compare the cost of education across countries, it is important to consider not only the yearly expenditure per student, but also the cumulative expenditure for students over the total period they are expected to spend at that educational level. High expenditure per student, for example, might be offset by short programmes or weaker access to education at certain levels. On the other hand, a seemingly inexpensive education system per student can prove to be costly overall, if enrolment is high and students spend more time in school.
Primary and secondary education are usually compulsory across the OECD, and the theoretical cumulative expenditure per student aged between 6 and 15 at these levels shows how much it costs to teach a student on average based on current compulsory education (Figure C1.2 and Table C1.6, available on line). On average across OECD countries, students aged between 6 and 15 adds up to a total cumulative expenditure of around USD 92 000 per student. Theoretical cumulative expenditure on educational institutions per student varies considerably among countries, Austria, Luxembourg, Norway and the United States spend over USD 120 000 per student across those two levels, while the figure is below USD 40 000 in Mexico and Turkey.
Expenditure per student on educational institutions relative to per capita GDP
Expenditure on educational institutions per student relative to GDP per capita is a spending measure that takes into account the relative worth of OECD countries. Since access to education in most OECD countries is universal (and usually compulsory) at the lower levels of schooling, the quotient between the amount spent per student and the per capita GDP can be indicative of whether the resources spent per student are correlated to the country’s ability to pay. At higher levels of education, where student enrolments vary sharply among countries, the link is less clear. At tertiary level, for example, OECD countries may rank relatively high on this measure, even when a large proportion of their wealth is spent on educating a relatively small number of students.
Figure C1.2. Cumulative expenditure per student on educational institutions between the age of 6 and 15 (2015)
Note: Cumulative expenditure per student on educational institutions is calculated using expected years in education.
1. Some levels of education are included with others. Refer to “x” code in Table C1.1 for details.
2. Includes one year of pre-primary education as part of core education.
3. Year of reference 2016.
Countries are ranked in descending order of the total expenditure on educational institutions per student over the theoretical duration of primary and secondary studies between the age of 6 and 15.
Source: OECD / UIS / Eurostat (2018), Table C1.6. See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-36-en).
In OECD countries, overall expenditure per student on educational institutions from primary to tertiary levels averages 26% of per capita GDP, broken down into 22% at primary level, 25% at lower secondary level, 26% at upper secondary level, 22% at post-secondary non-tertiary level and 39% at tertiary level (Table C1.4, available on line and Figure C1.3). Countries with low levels of expenditure per student may nonetheless invest relatively higher amounts as a share of per capita GDP. For example, although Latvia’s expenditure per student at all educational levels and per capita GDP are both below the OECD average, it spends per student an above-average share of its per capita GDP on each educational level.
The relationship between per capita GDP and expenditure per student on educational institutions is difficult to interpret. However, there is a clear positive relationship between the two at non-tertiary educational levels. In other words, less wealthy countries tend to spend less per student than richer countries. Although the relationship is generally positive at these levels, there are variations, even among countries with similar levels of per capita GDP, and especially in those in which per capita GDP exceeds USD 30 000. Austria and the Netherlands, for example, have similar levels of per capita GDP (around USD 50 000) (see Table X2.1 in Annex 2) but they allocate very different shares of their wealth to primary and secondary education. Austria spends 23% of per capita GDP on primary institutions (above the OECD average of 22%) and 31% on secondary institutions (above the OECD average of 25%), while the Netherlands spends less with 17% at primary level and 26% at secondary level (Table C1.4, available on line and Figure C1.3).
At tertiary level, there is more cross-country variation in spending and in the relationship between countries’ relative wealth and their level of tertiary expenditure. Spending by tertiary institutions in Brazil, the Slovak Republic, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States represents more than 50% of per capita GDP for each student (Table C1.4, available on line and Figure C1.3). The high share for Sweden, for example, is clearly explained by its extremely high expenditure on R&D, which accounts for over half of total expenditure per student at this level (Table C1.2).
Figure C1.3. Expenditure on educational institutions per student relative to GDP per capita (2015)
Source: OECD / UIS / Eurostat (2018), Table C1.1 and OECD.Stat. See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-36-en).
Changes in expenditure per student on educational institutions between 2010 and 2015
Changes in expenditure on educational institutions largely reflect changes in the size of the school-age population and in teachers’ salaries, both of which tend to increase over time. Teachers’ salaries, the main component of costs, have increased in the majority of countries over the past decade (see Indicator D3). The size of the school-age population influences both enrolment levels and the amount of resources and organisational effort a country must invest in its education system. The larger this population, the greater the potential demand for education services. Changes in expenditure per student over the years may also vary between levels of education within countries, as both enrolment and expenditure may follow different trends at different levels of education.
Changes in enrolment do not seem to have been the main factor behind changes in expenditure on educational institutions per non-tertiary student. Expenditure by non-tertiary educational institutions increased in most countries by an average of 4% between 2010 and 2015 (Table C1.3). Over the same period, enrolment at those levels decreased slowly, with a total decline of 1% over the five-year period. Falling enrolment together with increasing expenditure resulted in greater expenditure per student at those levels – 5% higher in 2015 than in 2010. Most countries were spending more per student in 2015 than they did in 2010, with the exception of the United States and some European countries that were hard hit by the economic crisis of 2008: Estonia, France, Ireland, Slovenia and Spain. On the other hand, expenditure per student increased significantly between 2010 and 2015 in several countries and by 20% in Chile, 24% in Korea, 30% in Latvia and 22% in the Slovak Republic. In Chile, Korea, Latvia, Poland and the Slovak Republic a decrease in enrolments of more than 5% coincided with significant increases in spending on educational institutions per student between 2010 and 2015. On the contrary, in Ireland, Slovenia and Spain the increase in enrolments was accompanied by a reduction in spending on educational institutions.
Expenditure at tertiary level increased much more quickly than at lower levels of education, rising on average by 12% between 2010 and 2015. This results, in part, from growth in enrolment of 3% over the same period. OECD countries recorded on average an increase of 11% year period. Of the 26 OECD and partner countries with available data, Chile, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Mexico and Spain recorded a decrease in expenditure on tertiary education per student. In most of these countries, the decline was mainly the result of a rapid increase in the number of tertiary students. In countries such as Estonia and the Slovak Republic, for example, increases in expenditure per student were mainly due to an increase in total expenditure and a decrease in the number of students at tertiary level. However, as is the case in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway, large increases in the number of tertiary students do not necessarily lead to a decrease in expenditure per student (Table C1.3).
Definitions
Ancillary services are services provided on educational institutions that are peripheral to their main educational mission. The main component of ancillary services is student welfare. In primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education, student welfare services include meals, school health services and transportation to and from school. At the tertiary level, they include residence halls (dormitories), dining halls and health care.
Core educational services include all expenditures that are directly related to instruction in educational institutions, including teachers’ salaries, construction and maintenance of school buildings, teaching materials, books and administration of schools.
Research and development includes research performed at universities and other tertiary educational institutions, regardless of whether the research is financed from general institutional funds or through separate grants or contracts from public or private sponsors.
Methodology
Expenditure per student on educational institutions at a particular level of education is calculated by dividing total expenditure on educational institutions at that level by the corresponding full-time equivalent enrolment. Only educational institutions and programmes for which both enrolment and expenditure data are available are taken into account. Expenditure in national currency is converted into equivalent USD by dividing the national currency figure by the purchasing power parity (PPP) index for GDP. The PPP conversion factor is used because the market exchange rate is affected by many factors (interest rates, trade policies, expectations of economic growth, etc.) that have little to do with current relative domestic purchasing power in different OECD countries (see Annex 2 for further details).
Expenditure per student on educational institutions relative to per capita GDP is calculated by dividing expenditure per student on educational institutions by the percentage of per capita GDP. In cases where the educational expenditure data and the GDP data pertain to different reference periods, the expenditure data are adjusted to the same reference period as the GDP data, using inflation rates for the OECD country in question (see Annex 2).
Full-time equivalent student: The ranking of OECD countries by annual expenditure on educational services per student is affected by differences in how countries define full-time, part-time and full-time equivalent enrolment. Some OECD countries count every participant at the tertiary level as a full-time student, while others determine a student’s intensity of participation by the credits that he/she obtains for successful completion of specific course units during a specified reference period. OECD countries that can accurately account for part-time enrolment have higher apparent expenditure per full-time equivalent student on educational institutions than OECD countries that cannot differentiate among the different types of student attendance.
Data on subnational regions on how much is spent per student are adjusted using national purchasing power parities (PPPs). Future work on cost of living at subnational level is required to fully adjust expenditure per student used in this section.
For more information please see the OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics 2018 (OECD, 2018[3]) and Annex 3 for country-specific notes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-36-en).
Lithuania was not an OECD member at the time of preparation of this publication. Accordingly, Lithuania does not appear in the list of OECD members and is not included in the zone aggregates.
Source
Data refer to the financial year 2015 (unless otherwise specified) and are based on the UNESCO, OECD and Eurostat (UOE) data collection on education statistics administered by the OECD in 2017 (for details see Annex 3 at http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-36-en). Data from Argentina, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa are from the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS).
The data on expenditure for 2005, 2011 to 2015 were updated based on a survey in 2017-18, and expenditures for 2005 to 2014 were adjusted to the methods and definitions used in the current UOE data collection.
Data on subnational regions for selected indicators have been released by the OECD, with the support from the US National Centre for Education Statistics (NCES) and are currently available for four countries: Belgium, Canada, Germany and the Russian Federation. Subnational estimates were provided by countries using national data sources.
Note regarding data from Israel
The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and are under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law.
References
[3] 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.
[2] OECD (2017), Education at a Glance 2017: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2017-en.
[1] OECD/NCES (2018), Education at a Glance Subnational Supplement, OECD/National Center for Education Statistics, Paris and Washington, DC, https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/annualreports/oecd/index.asp.
Indicator C1 Tables
Table C1.1. Total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student (2015)
Table C1.2. Total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student for core educational services, ancillary services and R&D (2015)
Table C1.3. Change in total expenditure per student on educational institutions (2005, 2011 and 2015)
Table C1.4. (web only) Total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student relative to GDP per capita (2015)
Table C1.5. (web only) Total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, by source of funds (2015)
Table C1.6. (web only) Cumulative expenditure per student on educational institutions between ages 6 and 15 (2015)
Cut-off date for the data: 18 July 2018. Any updates on data can be found on line at http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-data-en. Data can also be found at http://stats.oecd.org/, Education at a Glance Database.
Table C1.1. Total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student (2015)
In equivalent USD converted using PPPs for GDP, direct expenditure within educational institutions, by level of education, based on full-time equivalents
Note: See Definitions and Methodology sections for more information. Data and more breakdowns available at http://stats.oecd.org/, Education at a Glance Database.
1. Primary education includes data from pre-primary and lower secondary education.
2. Year of reference 2016.
Source: OECD / UIS / Eurostat (2018). See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-36-en).
Please refer to the Reader’s Guide for information concerning symbols for missing data and abbreviations.
Table C1.2. Total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student for core educational services, ancillary services and R&D (2015)
In equivalent USD converted using PPPs for GDP, direct expenditure within educational institutions, by level of education, based on full-time equivalents
Note: Data on early childhood education are available in Indicator B2. See Definitions and Methodology sections for more information. Data and more breakdowns available at http://stats.oecd.org/, Education at a Glance Database.
1. Primary education includes data from pre-primary and lower secondary education.
2. Year of reference 2016.
3. Data from post-secondary non-tertiary is excluded from the computations.
Source: OECD / UIS / Eurostat (2018). See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-36-en).
Please refer to the Reader’s Guide for information concerning symbols for missing data and abbreviations.
Table C1.3. Change in total expenditure per student on educational institutions (2005, 2011 and 2015)
Index of change (GDP deflator 2010 = 100, constant prices)
Note: See Definitions and Methodology sections for more information. Data and more breakdowns available at http://stats.oecd.org/, Education at a Glance Database.
1. Primary education includes data from pre-primary and lower secondary education.
2. Year of reference 2016.
Source: OECD / UIS / Eurostat (2018). See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-36-en).
Please refer to the Reader’s Guide for information concerning symbols for missing data and abbreviations.