Turkey’s education expenditure grows 18.2%
Three sisters study at home after schools were closed due to the pandemic, in Trabzon, northern Turkey, Dec. 9, 2020. (DHA PHOTO)


The latest figures by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) indicate an 18.2% increase in the country's total education expenditure, to more than TL 259.2 billion ($33.1 billion) for 2019. The figures released on Wednesday allocated the most funds to primary education and secondary schools.

Overall, the share of education expenditures in the gross domestic product (GDP) reached 6%, a slight change from 2018.

Public institutions spent 30.3% of their total education expenditure on tertiary education. Some 74% of education expenditure was paid by public sources last year, while the share of public or households with education expenditures was 20.8%. TurkStat figures also show an average of TL 11,000 was spent per student.