European Union governments collectively invested €806 billion in education during 2023, representing 4.7% of the bloc's GDP. While this is a substantial sum, the share of national income devoted to schooling has actually declined over the past decade, from 4.96% in 2014 to 4.65% in 2023, according to Eurostat. The brief spike to 5.02% in 2020 was largely a statistical artifact of the pandemic-induced economic contraction rather than a genuine surge in education budgets.
Who spends the most?
Sweden leads the continent, allocating 6.8% of its GDP to education in 2023. Finland, Iceland, Belgium, and Denmark also exceed the 6% threshold. At the other end of the spectrum, Romania spends just 2.97% and Greece 3.33% of their GDPs on education.
However, GDP share alone doesn't tell the full story. Wealthier countries can spend more per student even with a lower percentage, while poorer nations may struggle to provide adequate resources despite making a comparable effort. To account for this, Eurostat uses purchasing power standards (PPS), which adjust for price level differences across countries.
Using 2022 data (the latest available for all major EU economies), Luxembourg stands out: it spends only 3.74% of GDP on education, below the EU average of 4.66%, yet it has the highest expenditure per student in the bloc at 18,422 PPS—more than double the EU average of 8,246 PPS. Bulgaria presents the opposite picture: its GDP share is close to the EU average (4.5%), but per-student spending is the lowest in the EU at just 3,097 PPS.
Among the large economies, France devotes 5.33% of GDP to education (fifth-highest in the EU) but spends 8,151 PPS per student, slightly below the EU average. Italy spends 4.07% of GDP and 7,945 PPS per student, also just under the average. Germany, with a near-average 4.79% of GDP, spends 10,363 PPS per student—about 26% above the EU average. Malta and Slovakia also show interesting divergences: Malta spends below-average as a share of GDP but above-average per student, while Slovakia matches the EU average in GDP share but spends 22% less per student.
Does money buy better results?
The relationship between spending and outcomes is far from straightforward. The OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests 15-year-olds in reading, mathematics, and science, providing a benchmark for basic skills. In 2022, 26.2% of EU pupils were low achievers in reading and 29.5% in mathematics—both figures have worsened since 2012, when they were 18% and 22.1% respectively.
Estonia, Ireland, and Denmark recorded the lowest shares of low achievers in mathematics, with Estonia at just 15%. Denmark is among Europe's biggest spenders, but Estonia and Ireland achieve strong results with more modest budgets. Latvia is a notable example: it spends 4,999 PPS per student (39% below the EU average) yet its low-achievement rates are below the EU average. Conversely, Malta spends 17% above the EU average per student but records worse-than-average results, with 32.6% low achievers in mathematics and 36.3% in reading. Cyprus and Bulgaria also struggle, with over half of their students failing to reach the baseline level.
Even Luxembourg, despite its lavish per-student spending, saw 27.2% of its 15-year-olds as low achievers in mathematics in 2018 (the last year with available PISA data). This underscores that high investment alone doesn't guarantee strong outcomes.
Europe's 2030 target remains distant
With nearly three in ten EU pupils failing to reach the OECD's baseline level in mathematics, the bloc is far from its goal of reducing underachievement in basic skills to below 15% by 2030. The problem is particularly acute among disadvantaged students: 48% of those from the least advantaged quarter underachieve in mathematics, compared with just 11% from the most advantaged quarter.
Demographic shifts could ease some pressure. The European Commission's Investing in Education 2025 report projects that the EU will have about 2.5 million fewer people aged 3–18 by 2030 than in 2022, a decline of 3.5%. The largest drops are expected in Italy (13%), Greece (12%), and Spain (11%), while Germany is projected to see a smaller decline. This could allow countries to concentrate resources on fewer students, but it also raises questions about the future workforce and the need to improve skill levels across the board.
As Europe navigates these challenges, the debate over education funding is likely to intensify. While money matters, the evidence suggests that how it is spent—and the broader social and economic context—plays an equally crucial role in shaping outcomes. For more on how European nations are addressing related challenges, see Sweden's new commission on school violence and record EU defence spending.
