Public sector expenditures on education include expenditures at all government levels (central,
provincial and local) at all levels of education (preschool, primary, secondary and higher
education), as well as expenditures not allocated by levels of education. According to European
Union methodology, in 2012 the estimated public expenditures on education in the Republic of
Serbia stood at 5.27% of the GDP, which is equal to the average public allocations in the EU-27
– 5.26% of the GDP.
Still, allocations are significantly lower than in the European Union in absolute terms. Public
education institutions' annual expenditures per student, combined for all education levels on
the basis of the FTE (full-time equivalent number of students)1
in EU-28 stood at EUR PPS 6,914
in 2011. In the European Union, expenditures per student grow with education levels; thus,
they amount to EUR PPS 5,851 in primary and EUR PPS 6,837 in secondary education. In the
Republic of Serbia in 2012, public expenditures per student amounted to EUR PPS 2,449 in
primary and EUR PPS 2,224 in secondary education.