Investing in Education 2024 report

The Commission’s 2024 European Semester Spring Package, presented on 19 June 2024, highlights the importance of human capital in enhancing productivity and growth in Europe. Young people are performing worse today than they did 10 years ago, with 25-30% of EU students lacking basic skills in maths, reading and science. For this reason, the Commission issued recommendations for 18 EU Member States, emphasising the importance and need for highly qualified young people.

Appropriately, the Commission released its “Investing in Education 2024” report, produced annually by the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC) since 2022.

The 2024 edition of this report provides an overview of developments in investment in education in the EU. It also reveals new findings in the areas of effectiveness and efficiency of investment in education. The 2024 topic is a mapping of the use of counterfactual policy evaluation in education in Europe, assessing the success of policies and programmes.

The report compares public expenditure in education with public expenditure in other domains (e.g., social protection, healthcare, economic affairs) at EU and national levels. The 2024 report found that investment in education has faced stronger competition from other public functions since the pandemic, and consequently receives a lower share of total public expenditure than in the previous decade. It experienced one of the largest drops among the various public policy sectors between 2019 and 2022.

Many social and economic measures taken by public authorities in 2020‑2021 in response to the Covid‑19 pandemic were discontinued or gradually phased out in 2022. However, new measures have since been introduced to face the energy crisis and support Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s invasion, risking further reductions to education budgets.

In 2022, the EU‑average public expenditure on education reached 4.7% of GDP and 9.5% of total public expenditure, showing signs of stabilisation. The former reverted to its pre-pandemic trend after a spike in 2020, and the latter remained roughly constant in 2021-2022, albeit at historically low levels, after a decline during the Covid-induced recession.

The Recovery and Resilience Facility, Cohesion Policy funding offer opportunities for quality investment in education. Ensuring effectiveness and efficiency in investment in education will be the best way to seize those opportunities.

Through this report and the Spring Package Country Specific Recommendations, the Commission calls on Member States to take action to improve basic skills, thereby strengthening Europe’s future innovation potential, competitiveness, and social cohesion. A robust evidence-informed approach to education policy design and implementation is key. There is further room to foster that approach in Europe.

Background

“Investing in Education” is part of DG EAC’s in-house activities for the public of the European Commission’s Learning Lab on Investing in Quality Education and Training, which supports EU countries in further developing a culture of evaluation in education. It does so by providing relevant knowledge and resources. The report has already become a reference in the area of investment in education for debates at both a European Commission and a national level. It is published before the summer to draw policymakers’ attention to investment in education ahead of the preparation of draft national budgetary plans.

The European Semester Spring Package, published by the Commission, marks the beginning of the national dimension within the annual European Semester cycle. It offers targeted advice to each Member State on their economic policies and reforms, thereby building on the broader priorities outlined in the preceding Autumn Package. The Commission’s recommendations are based on an evaluation of the national policy plans submitted by Member States, coupled with an analysis of their respective socio-economic context. The Spring Package releases in-depth reviews assessing potential macroeconomic imbalances in EU countries, which play a key role in safeguarding European economic stability.

Useful links

“Investing in Education 2024” report

Learning Lab on Investing in Quality Education and Training

2024 European Semester Spring Package