Education, in Italy spending 79 billion, less than for interest on debt

Italy 'is the only country in the euro area where public spending on interest on debt is almost equivalent to that on education'. This was the remark made by the Governor of the Bank of Italy Fabio Panetta in front of the audience at the Rimini meeting. An alarm that of the central banker that finds a plastic representation in two data: Italy's expenditure on education in 2022 was about 79 billion euro while the expenditure for interest on debt of public administrations in 2022 was 82.9 billion euro (latest available data, source ISTAT).

And the comparison on investment in education for Italy is not flattering when made with other countries. In 2020, OECD countries, according to a 2023 report drawn up on the basis of the latest available data, allocated an average of 5.1% of GDP and 10% of their public spending to education and training systems. Italy lags behind, even compared to the other main European states, with only 4.2 per cent of GDP and 7 per cent of public spending allocated to education. The gap is particularly pronounced in the resources allocated to tertiary education, according to data compiled by the Bolton Hope Foundation, taken from the OECD's Education at a Glance 2023 report to put Italy's situation in context with the OECD and EU averages.

Spending per student is USD 11,400 in Italy, compared to the OECD average of USD 12,600. This indicates a lower availability of financial resources for students and educational institutions than in other OECD countries. Many European states, such as Sweden and Denmark, invest a significantly higher share of their GDP in education, often over 6%. In France, the percentage of GDP allocated to education is 5.5%. In Germany 4.6%, in the UK 6.3%, in EU 25 it is 4.5%.

Moreover, on average, in Europe and in OECD countries, about 40 per cent of adults between 25 and 64 have attained a tertiary level of education. The rest of the adult population is divided between 40-45% who have attained at least a secondary school diploma (or other equivalent qualification), and a remaining 15-20% who finished their studies earlier. Italy lags clearly behind these numbers. In comparison with other countries, the Belpaese country emerges in the negative in tertiary level education: only 20% of graduates, i.e. the worst result together with Romania (21%), Mexico (21%), Argentina (25%), Costa Rica (25%) and Turkey (25%). The percentage of adults who interrupted their studies before graduating from high school (37%) is also among the worst. In Europe, only Portugal does worse (40%).