EU countries by spending per student, primary to tertiary

Luxembourg had the highest spending per student, primary to tertiary of 22 EU countries in 2020, at 27,412 USD at PPP. Greece had the lowest, at 6,268 USD at PPP. The median was 12,180 USD at PPP. Source: the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Highest27,412Luxembourg

Lowest6,268Greece

Median12,18022 EU countries

Map of EU countries, 2020

Under 10K
10K to 12K
12K to 13K
13K to 16K
16K and over
No data

USD at PPP, 2020. Hatched areas have no value for this period. 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). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2020

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

Rank	EU countries	2020 USD at PPP	Change on 2019
1	Luxembourg	27,412	+3.7%
2	Austria	18,170	+1.4%
3	Belgium	16,753	+6.7%
4	Denmark	16,594	+2.7%
5	Sweden	16,435	+2.2%
6	Germany	16,172	+5.6%
7	Netherlands	16,042	+5.3%
8	Finland	14,062	+5.7%
9	France	13,883	+1.7%
10	Ireland	12,518	+7.7%
11	Slovenia	12,211	+7.7%
12	Czechia	12,149	0%
13	Italy	11,718	+2.6%
14	Spain	11,400	+1.7%
15	Estonia	11,272	+2.6%
16	Portugal	11,100	+0.7%
17	Poland	10,745	+6.3%
18	Slovakia	10,233	+14.1%
19	Lithuania	9,851	+15.3%
20	Latvia	9,156	+3.4%
21	Hungary	8,825	-3.4%
22	Greece	6,268	+0.5%

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. 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, 2020) [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, 2020. 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=2020. 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, 2020. 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=2020.

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, 2020 [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=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{organisation_eu_countries_by_spending_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  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=2020. 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, 2020
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=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/spending-per-student/eu-countries?period=2020.
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 27,412 USD at PPP in 2020, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

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

Greece, with 6,268 USD at PPP in 2020.

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.

Spending per student, primary to tertiary: other rankings

Countries