EU countries by spending per student, primary to tertiary

Luxembourg had the highest spending per student, primary to tertiary of 21 EU countries in 2015, at 22,710 USD at PPP. Greece had the lowest, at 5,448 USD at PPP. The median was 9,198 USD at PPP. Source: the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Highest22,710Luxembourg
Lowest5,448Greece
Median9,19821 EU countries

All EU countries, 2015

Luxembourg: 22,710 USD at PPPLuxembourg22,710Austria: 15,048 USD at PPPAustria15,048Sweden: 13,841 USD at PPPSweden13,841Belgium: 12,964 USD at PPPBelgium12,964Netherlands: 12,803 USD at PPPNetherlands12,803Germany: 12,172 USD at PPPGermany12,172Finland: 11,536 USD at PPPFinland11,536France: 11,178 USD at PPPFrance11,178Ireland: 9,860 USD at PPPIreland9,860Italy: 9,493 USD at PPPItaly9,493Portugal: 9,198 USD at PPPPortugal9,198Spain: 9,172 USD at PPPSpain9,172Slovenia: 8,819 USD at PPPSlovenia8,819Slovakia: 8,497 USD at PPPSlovakia8,497Estonia: 8,157 USD at PPPEstonia8,157Czechia: 7,969 USD at PPPCzechia7,969Poland: 7,467 USD at PPPPoland7,467Latvia: 7,155 USD at PPPLatvia7,155Hungary: 6,385 USD at PPPHungary6,385Lithuania: 5,996 USD at PPPLithuania5,996Greece: 5,448 USD at PPPGreece5,448
USD at PPP. Source: OECD, OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN@DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2015
USD at PPP
Change on 2014
1Luxembourg22,710+0.1%
2Austria15,048+3.8%
3Sweden13,841+1.2%
4Belgium12,964+0.3%
5Netherlands12,803n/a
6Germany12,172+0.8%
7Finland11,536+1.5%
8France11,178+0.2%
9Ireland9,860n/a
10Italy9,493+2.5%
11Portugal9,198-6.9%
12Spain9,172+4.3%
13Slovenia8,819-3.4%
14Slovakia8,497+17.3%
15Estonia8,157+4.1%
16Czechia7,969+3.1%
17Poland7,467+2.5%
18Latvia7,155+6.1%
19Hungary6,385+4.7%
20Lithuania5,996-2.9%
21Greece5,448n/a

Other periods

About this ranking

Total expenditure on educational institutions from public, private and international sources per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary education (ISCED 2011 levels 1 to 8), in US dollars at current prices converted with purchasing power parities for GDP.

Includes research and development spending at universities. Countries do not report every year, and the latest year usually lags by about three years.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the EU countries are compared on one definition. 1 EU countries with data in other periods have no value for 2015 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

OECD. OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN@DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN%40DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP. Accessed 2026-10-12. Data reuse terms and downstream attribution: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2026). OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN@DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD) (EU countries by spending per student, primary to tertiary, 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN%40DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP

MLA 9

OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN@DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD), EU countries by spending per student, primary to tertiary, 2015. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 12 Oct. 2026, https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN%40DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/spending-per-student/eu-countries?period=2015. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 2026. OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN@DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD). EU countries by spending per student, primary to tertiary, 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN%40DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/spending-per-student/eu-countries?period=2015.

Harvard

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2026) OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN@DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD), EU countries by spending per student, primary to tertiary, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN%40DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/spending-per-student/eu-countries?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{organisation_eu_countries_by_spending_2015,
  author = {{Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development}},
  title = {{OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD\_EAG\_UOE\_FIN@DF\_UOE\_INDIC\_FIN\_PERSTUD): EU countries by spending per student, primary to tertiary, 2015}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN%40DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/spending-per-student/eu-countries?period=2015. Publisher attribution: OECD. OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD\_EAG\_UOE\_FIN@DF\_UOE\_INDIC\_FIN\_PERSTUD). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ\&df[id]=DSD\_EAG\_UOE\_FIN\%40DF\_UOE\_INDIC\_FIN\_PERSTUD\&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP. Accessed 2026-10-12. Data reuse terms and downstream attribution: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
TI  - OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN@DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD): EU countries by spending per student, primary to tertiary, 2015
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/12
PB  - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN%40DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/spending-per-student/eu-countries?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/spending-per-student/eu-countries?period=2015.
N1  - Publisher attribution: OECD. OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN@DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN%40DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP. Accessed 2026-10-12. Data reuse terms and downstream attribution: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html.
ER  - 
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Questions

Which EU country has the highest spending per student, primary to tertiary?

Luxembourg, with 22,710 USD at PPP in 2015, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Which EU country has the lowest spending per student, primary to tertiary?

Greece, with 5,448 USD at PPP in 2015.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD Education at a Glance: total expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student, primary to tertiary, US dollars at current prices and PPPs (DSD_EAG_UOE_FIN@DF_UOE_INDIC_FIN_PERSTUD). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 1 EU countries have no value for 2015 and are not ranked.

Spending per student, primary to tertiary: other rankings

EU countries: more rankings