In 2023, the average annual public spending per student at different levels of education in China ranged between ****** yuan for college and university students and ****** yuan for primaryschool children. That year, the total public spending on education in China amounted to around *** trillion yuan.

This statistic shows the per capita expenditure of private urban households in China on education, culture, and recreation in 2023, by region. In 2023, one member of a private household in Shanghai municipality spent approximately ***** yuan on education and recreation.

In 2024, public spending on education in China reached *** trillion yuan. Education expenditure increased continuously over recent years, but growth rates are considerably lower than ten years ago. Development of public spending on education Since the beginning of the reform era, the Chinese government attached great importance to the development of the educational sector. Besides structural reforms, public spending on education was increased considerably. However, the whole educational sector lagged far behind international standards in terms of quality as well as quantity. Public expenditure on education as a share of the national GDP, which is a common measure to compare educational systems, ranged at only around 2.5 percent in the mid-1990s. In 1993, the government announced the plan to increase educational spending to four percent of the GDP until 2000, but it took 12 more years to reach that target. However, considering that at the same time the GDP grew by double digits most of the years, the financial situation of the education sector improved greatly. This manifests itself in the substantially increased number of graduates and quality of degrees. Since achieving the four percent target in 2012, the growth of educational spending, which had reached more than ** percent per year in the years before, was reduced to levels equaling the GDP growth. Compared to the public spending on education of developed countries, China is still at the lower range and did not reach the OECD average of around *** percent of the GDP in 2018. Spending per student Even though educational spending in China improved a lot in the last decades, when calculated per student, expenditure is still far behind developed countries. While spending per student on a tertiary level of education in OECD countries averaged around ****** U.S. dollars in 2020, it reached only ****** yuan per student in China in 2023, which is less than one third. This fact sheds some light on the average quality level of the educational system in China on a general basis and reminds us that China is a huge and populous country. Of which, some elite schools in the big cities coexist with vast numbers of schools in the countryside operating on a completely different level of quality.

China Government Expenditure: Education data was reported at 387.200 RMB bn in Mar 2025. This records a decrease from the previous number of 580.900 RMB bn for Dec 2024. China Government Expenditure: Education data is updated monthly, averaging 192.586 RMB bn from Jan 2007 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 203 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 580.900 RMB bn in Dec 2024 and a record low of 35.740 RMB bn in Jan 2007. China Government Expenditure: Education data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Ministry of Finance. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Government and Public Finance – Table CN.FA: Government Revenue and Expenditure: Monthly.

This statistic shows the average annual per capita expenditure of private households in urban China on education and leisure from 1990 to 2024. In 2024, one member of a private urban household in China spent approximately ***** yuan on education, culture, and recreation.

China Consumption Expenditure per Capita: Education,Cultural and Recreation data was reported at 3,189.000 RMB in 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 2,904.000 RMB for 2023. China Consumption Expenditure per Capita: Education,Cultural and Recreation data is updated yearly, averaging 1,136.200 RMB from Dec 1998 (Median) to 2024, with 27 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3,189.000 RMB in 2024 and a record low of 194.700 RMB in 1998. China Consumption Expenditure per Capita: Education,Cultural and Recreation data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Household Survey – Table CN.HD: Expenditure per Capita.

Government Expenditure: Education: Shanghai data was reported at 123,385.000 RMB mn in 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 120,614.000 RMB mn for 2023. Government Expenditure: Education: Shanghai data is updated yearly, averaging 59,909.550 RMB mn from Dec 1999 (Median) to 2024, with 26 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 123,385.000 RMB mn in 2024 and a record low of 7,503.190 RMB mn in 1999. Government Expenditure: Education: Shanghai data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Government and Public Finance – Table CN.FC: Government Expenditure: Education: Prefecture Level City.

In 2023, the total public spending on all different levels of education in China amounted to approximately **** trillion yuan. Of this total sum, around **** trillion yuan were spent on tertiary education.

Forecast: Higher Education Expenditure on R&D Financed by Industry in China 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Hong Kong HK: Government Expenditure per Student: Tertiary: % of(GDP) Gross Domestic Productper Capita data was reported at 24.379 % in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 23.357 % for 2015. Hong Kong HK: Government Expenditure per Student: Tertiary: % of(GDP) Gross Domestic Productper Capita data is updated yearly, averaging 30.168 % from Dec 2004 (Median) to 2016, with 13 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 63.037 % in 2004 and a record low of 23.357 % in 2015. Hong Kong HK: Government Expenditure per Student: Tertiary: % of(GDP) Gross Domestic Productper Capita data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Hong Kong – Table HK.World Bank: Education Statistics. Government expenditure per student is the average general government expenditure (current, capital, and transfers) per student in the given level of education, expressed as a percentage of GDP per capita.; ; United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics.; Median;

This dataset tracks annual average expenditure per student from 1992 to 2023 for China Spring Independent School District

This dataset tracks annual average expenditure per student from 1992 to 2023 for East China School District

This dataset tracks annual average expenditure per student from 2009 to 2023 for Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School District

Macau MO: Government Expenditure on Education: Total: % of GDP data was reported at 2.978 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 2.032 % for 2014. Macau MO: Government Expenditure on Education: Total: % of GDP data is updated yearly, averaging 2.657 % from Dec 1998 (Median) to 2015, with 18 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.378 % in 1998 and a record low of 2.032 % in 2014. Macau MO: Government Expenditure on Education: Total: % of GDP data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Macau – Table MO.World Bank: Education Statistics. General government expenditure on education (current, capital, and transfers) is expressed as a percentage of GDP. It includes expenditure funded by transfers from international sources to government. General government usually refers to local, regional and central governments.; ; United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics.; Median;

This statistic illustrates average annual per capita expenditure on cultural and educational entertainment of private households in China in selected years from 2000 to 2024. In 2024, Chinese spent on average around ***** yuan a year on cultural and education entertainment, nominal *** percent more than in the previous year.

Government Expenditure: Education: Guangdong: Shenzhen data was reported at 100,144.740 RMB mn in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 94,894.380 RMB mn for 2022. Government Expenditure: Education: Guangdong: Shenzhen data is updated yearly, averaging 28,772.800 RMB mn from Dec 2003 (Median) to 2023, with 21 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 100,144.740 RMB mn in 2023 and a record low of 3,894.520 RMB mn in 2003. Government Expenditure: Education: Guangdong: Shenzhen data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Government and Public Finance – Table CN.FC: Government Expenditure: Education: Prefecture Level City.

The statistic shows the planned spending on education in China in 2013, by income. That year, ** percent of respondents from the income group 'up to ***** yuan' stated that they plan on spending less on education in the coming 12 months.

China GERD Performed: Higher Education Sector data was reported at 7.837 % in 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 7.800 % for 2021. China GERD Performed: Higher Education Sector data is updated yearly, averaging 8.525 % from Dec 1991 (Median) to 2022, with 32 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 12.633 % in 1994 and a record low of 6.840 % in 2016. China GERD Performed: Higher Education Sector data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s China – Table CN.OECD.MSTI: Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development: Non OECD Member: Annual.

The national breakdown by source of funds does not fully match with the classification defined in the Frascati Manual. The R&D financed by the government, business enterprises, and by the rest of the world can be retrieved but part of the expenditure has no specific source of financing, i.e. self-raised funding (in particular for independent research institutions), the funds from the higher education sector and left-over government grants from previous years.

The government and higher education sectors cover all fields of NSE and SSH while the business enterprise sector only covers the fields of NSE. There are only few organisations in the private non-profit sector, hence no R&D survey has been carried out in this sector and the data are not available.

From 2009, researcher data are collected according to the Frascati Manual definition of researcher. Beforehand, this was only the case for independent research institutions, while for the other sectors data were collected according to the UNESCO concept of “scientist and engineer”.

In 2009, the survey coverage in the business and the government sectors has been expanded.

Before 2000, all of the personnel data and 95% of the expenditure data in the business enterprise sector are for large and medium-sized enterprises only. Since 2000 however, the survey covers almost all industries and all enterprises above a certain threshold. In 2000 and 2004, a census of all enterprises was held, while in the intermediate years data for small enterprises are estimated.

Due to the reform of the S&T system some government institutions have become enterprises, and their R&D data have been reflected in the Business Enterprise sector since 2000.

According to a survey conducted among parents in China in 2022, around a third of respondents said they spent between 1,000 and ***** yuan per month on their children's education. On average, Chinese parents were spending ***** yuan on their children's education monthly as of 2022, whereas a year earlier the average expenses were ***** yuan.

China Consumption Exp per Capita: Year to Date: Education, Cultural and Recreation data was reported at 822.554 RMB in Mar 2025. This records a decrease from the previous number of 3,189.000 RMB for Dec 2024. China Consumption Exp per Capita: Year to Date: Education, Cultural and Recreation data is updated quarterly, averaging 1,119.000 RMB from Mar 2013 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 49 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3,189.000 RMB in Dec 2024 and a record low of 311.010 RMB in Mar 2013. China Consumption Exp per Capita: Year to Date: Education, Cultural and Recreation data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Household Survey – Table CN.HD: Expenditure per Capita.