Turkey spent nearly TL 214.6 billion on education last year, a 21.6% increase from 2017, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) revealed Wednesday.

The share of education spending vis-a-vis the gross domestic product (GDP) rose from 5.7% in 2017 to 5.8% in 2018, TurkStat said.

Nearly 73% of the expenditures were financed by the state, while households contributed up to 20%. The biggest rise in education spending was recorded for pre-school with a 27.3% increase from 2017, followed by high school with a 24.3% increase.

Of the expenditures made by state institutions, 33.2%, or TL 51.5 billion, went to higher education and 25.3%, or TL 38.9 billion, went to secondary education. Private institutions contributed 43.3% of their expenditures, or TL 20.5 billion to secondary education and 30.3%, or TL 14.4 billion to higher education.

The average educational expenditure per student increased from TL 8,111 in 2017 to TL 9,790 in 2018. The highest spending per student occurred in higher education, at TL 16,248 per student. The amount spent per student in higher education has increased by 20.7% from 2017.

The greatest rise in spending per student occurred at middle school and high school levels, with increases of 26.2% and 22.7%, respectively.