Expenditure on education
What are the expenditures associated with the Danish educational system? How much does it cost to send children through primary and secondary education or university? And how are the different levels of education financed? Here you can get an overview of the Danish economics of education.
Explainer on…
Financial support given to students enrolled in formal education programmes.
Financial support given to those in the work force who wish to participate in supplementary or further education during working hours.
Selected statistics on Education expenditure
This page shows selected popular statistics on the subject of Education expenditure. In Statbank Denmark, you can find more data and compile your own statistics.
Development in education expenditure
Here you can see how total education expenditure by level of education has developed over the past couple of years. The expenditure is shown in current prices, which means that the figures do not take inflation into account.
Last update
27.11.2025
Next update
24.11.2026
Source data
The statistic is complied using a number of internal and external sources.
Internal sources
- Data extracts from Statistics Denmark's internal database DIOR (database for integrated public accounts), which stores the accounting information from the central and local governments. This forms the primary data base.
- Data from table RDCE01 and RDCE03 on expenditures and funding of research and development (R&D). Table FOND03 and FOND15 on funding of education from private funds.
- Data deliveries from the office of Population and Education in Statistics Denmark on the number of students at different levels of education. Data from here are used to as distribution keys.
- Data deliveries from the office of Science, Technology and Culture on the distribution of expenditures on research and development between short and long tertiary educations.
External sources
- Data deliveries from Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science about the state's education support (SU) and adult education support (SVU).
- Accounts from The National Agency for Education and Quality's accounting portal for the independent primary schools, post-secondary schools, private secondary schools and combination schools.
- Data from publicly available annual reports from the private tertiary educational institutions.
Distribution of education expenditure by type
Here you can see what the expenditure on education covers. The category ‘Other current expenditures’ covers among other things, rent, electricity and heating, while the category ‘Unknown’ is a balancing item and indicates whether education is overfinanced or underfinanced.
Last update
27.11.2025
Next update
24.11.2026
Source data
The statistic is complied using a number of internal and external sources.
Internal sources
- Data extracts from Statistics Denmark's internal database DIOR (database for integrated public accounts), which stores the accounting information from the central and local governments. This forms the primary data base.
- Data from table RDCE01 and RDCE03 on expenditures and funding of research and development (R&D). Table FOND03 and FOND15 on funding of education from private funds.
- Data deliveries from the office of Population and Education in Statistics Denmark on the number of students at different levels of education. Data from here are used to as distribution keys.
- Data deliveries from the office of Science, Technology and Culture on the distribution of expenditures on research and development between short and long tertiary educations.
External sources
- Data deliveries from Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science about the state's education support (SU) and adult education support (SVU).
- Accounts from The National Agency for Education and Quality's accounting portal for the independent primary schools, post-secondary schools, private secondary schools and combination schools.
- Data from publicly available annual reports from the private tertiary educational institutions.
Distribution of education expenditure
Here you can see, how the expenditures are distributed across educational levels and types of expenditure.
Last update
27.11.2025
Next update
24.11.2026
Source data
The statistic is complied using a number of internal and external sources.
Internal sources
- Data extracts from Statistics Denmark's internal database DIOR (database for integrated public accounts), which stores the accounting information from the central and local governments. This forms the primary data base.
- Data from table RDCE01 and RDCE03 on expenditures and funding of research and development (R&D). Table FOND03 and FOND15 on funding of education from private funds.
- Data deliveries from the office of Population and Education in Statistics Denmark on the number of students at different levels of education. Data from here are used to as distribution keys.
- Data deliveries from the office of Science, Technology and Culture on the distribution of expenditures on research and development between short and long tertiary educations.
External sources
- Data deliveries from Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science about the state's education support (SU) and adult education support (SVU).
- Accounts from The National Agency for Education and Quality's accounting portal for the independent primary schools, post-secondary schools, private secondary schools and combination schools.
- Data from publicly available annual reports from the private tertiary educational institutions.
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Number of students
Here you can see the number of students at different educational institutions.
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Foreign economics of education
How much does Denmark spend on education compared to other countries? See the comparision in the OECD database.
Funding of education
Here you can see how the educational system is financed in Denmark. Households cover out-of-pocket payments while companies award scholarships to students and research funds to educational institutions. International sources cover funding from the EU among others.
Last update
27.11.2025
Next update
24.11.2026
Source data
The statistic is complied using a number of internal and external sources.
Internal sources
- Data extracts from Statistics Denmark's internal database DIOR (database for integrated public accounts), which stores the accounting information from the central and local governments. This forms the primary data base.
- Data from table RDCE01 and RDCE03 on expenditures and funding of research and development (R&D). Table FOND03 and FOND15 on funding of education from private funds.
- Data deliveries from the office of Population and Education in Statistics Denmark on the number of students at different levels of education. Data from here are used to as distribution keys.
- Data deliveries from the office of Science, Technology and Culture on the distribution of expenditures on research and development between short and long tertiary educations.
External sources
- Data deliveries from Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science about the state's education support (SU) and adult education support (SVU).
- Accounts from The National Agency for Education and Quality's accounting portal for the independent primary schools, post-secondary schools, private secondary schools and combination schools.
- Data from publicly available annual reports from the private tertiary educational institutions.
On the statistics – documentation, sources and method
Gain an overview of the purpose, contents and quality of the statistics. Learn about the data sources of the statistics, the contents of the statistics and how often they are published.
See the documentation of statistics to learn more:
The purpose of the statistics is to show how education expenditures are distributed across source of funding, expenditure type, type of institution along with the level of education. The statistic is based on international standards for education expenditures by the manual UOE data collection on formal education (UOE2020) , which is developed by UNESCO, OECD and Eurostat. The statistic is used as an input to OECD's publication Education at a Glance, which compares educational systems across countries. The statistics are developed from finance year 2016 and onwards. Data is consistent and comparable throughout the entire period.
Need more data on Education expenditure?
You can search for more information in Statbank Denmark. Find more detailed information, e.g. the distribution of expenditure between public and private educational institutions.