Romania ranks at the bottom in terms of budget allocations for education. Government spending on education in Romania is among the lowest in the world, according to UNESCO’s latest report on education.
Romania invested in education, in 2023, only 3.3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), equivalent to 8.1% of government public expenditure. Thus, Romania ranks 123rd out of 171 in the world ranking in terms of education allocations from GDP and 156th in relation to general public expenditure.
According to the Incheon Declaration, adopted at the World Education Forum in 2015, 160 countries, including Romania, have undertaken to take steps to allocate between 4% and 6% of GDP or between 15% and 20% of public expenditure to education by 2030.
According to the UNESCO report of October 2024, only 34 countries meet the 2 conditions for financing education established in the Incheon Declaration and 78 meet only one of them. 58 states have not achieved any of these objectives, including Romania. Our country is at the same level as Tanzania, and after states such as Zambia, Anguilla, Palau, San Marino, Paraguay, Benin and Panama.
At the European Union level, only Ireland has spent such a small percentage of GDP on education – 3%.
The highest allocations in the EU were made in Sweden (7.6%), Belgium (6.4%) and France (5.4%).
Regarding the allocation of budgetary expenditure, Romania is among the last countries in the world in this regard, ranking in the top after Trinidad Tobago, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Tonga and Pakistan.
At the EU level, the highest expenditures on education relative to public expenditure were made in Estonia (14.3%), Sweden (13.5%), Lithuania, Latvia, Cyprus and Malta (12.7%).