In 2017, federal, state and local governments spent 133, 4 billion euros on education. That was 3.9 percent or five billion euros more than in the previous year, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office. Based on the total population, public spending on education in Germany was thus 1,600 per capita.

Per capita aged less than 30 years, with primary use of day nurseries, schools and universities, public spending averaged € 5,300. Comparative data on corresponding budget budgets in other countries would not exist, said a spokeswoman. Accordingly, the data deviate from values ​​from OECD studies because they also include private spending on education.

In international comparison, Germany's per capita expenditure from nursery school to university is slightly above the OECD average: in 2015 it was 9,500 euros per capita. For daycare children, Germany spends on average more than other countries, for students, the per capita spending is lower. In terms of economic output, expenditure on educational institutions in Germany was 4.2 percent in 2015, significantly lower than the OECD average of 5 percent.

In 2017, public funds for education in Germany were divided among the various areas:

  • Daycare facilities were funded with 26.6 billion euros . Here, compared to 2010, the largest increase in expenditure - there was an increase of 68.7 percent. This increase is mainly due to the federal, state and municipal funded program for the expansion of childcare places, the statisticians said.
  • The universities accounted for about 30.5 billion euros. Compared to 2010, this represents an increase of 34.5 percent. Expenditure increased in this area mainly due to the Higher Education Pact, which was intended to finance more study places in the face of increasing student numbers.
  • Nearly half of public education spending went to schools: € 66.1 billion . However, spending rose only 11.9 percent. The federal, state and local governments spent more money to expand the full-day offer. Lower student numbers in individual countries and school sectors, however, meant that spending fell, the statisticians said.

Overall, public spending on education in 2017 was 25.6 percent higher than in 2010. The Federal Government contributed 10.6 billion euros, the Länder 94.3 billion euros, and the municipalities 28.5 billion euros.

Basis for the evaluation was the Bildungsfinanzbericht 2018 on the basis of provisional data of the public budgets. The Educational Financial Report is prepared annually on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Conference of Ministers of Education.