A report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, shows the share of education in Japan’s government expenditures was the third lowest among surveyed member nations.
The OECD, which primarily consists of advanced economies, released the report on education systems. It calculated how much of government spending was allocated to academic institutions, teachers’ salaries and other education-related areas.
The report shows education accounted for 8 percent of Japan’s government outlays in 2022. It was only larger than the shares of Greece and Italy, which each earmarked 7 percent. That was also four percentage points lower than the average of 12 percent among 36 surveyed countries.
The report also shows 51 percent of the funding for Japan’s tertiary education, such as universities and vocational schools, came from households in 2021.
That was the third highest among 30 comparable countries and more than 30 points higher than the average of 19 percent. Only Chile and the United Kingdom had larger shares than Japan.
The OECD says Japan is currently setting aside a small portion of government expenditures for education, spending more for the elderly than for future generations. It adds that the country’s shrinking younger population is making it necessary to enhance the quality of education in order to nurture personnel who can underpin society.