Ei-iE

Education International
Education International

Education budgets under pressure in EU Member States

published 21 March 2013 updated 21 March 2013
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A new Eurydice report, published today, on the impact of the financial and economic crisis on education budgets across Europe, reveals that investment in education fell in eight out of 25 Member States since 2010. Cuts of more than 5 % were imposed in Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania and Portugal, while Estonia, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom (Scotland) saw decreases of 1 to 5 %. However, five Member States increased education spending by more than 1 %: Austria, Denmark, Luxembourg, Malta and Sweden, as well as the German-speaking Community of Belgium. Germany and the Netherlands did not provide data for the period since 2010.

The report analyses trends in education spending in 35 European regional and national education systems over the 2000-2012 time span. The analysis covers the developments in education funding from pre-primary to tertiary level and provides an overview of the main trends in the adult learning sector in 31 European countries.

The full report includes information on:

·      the economic context,

·      actual public expenditure and national budget developments in education,

·      trends in funding of human resources,

·      national budgets for educational infrastructure and support systems,

·      latest trends in funding and changes to national policies for the financial support of students.

The full report is available on the Eurydice website in English.