Romania has the third lowest public expenditure on education and health among EU member states

Romania is ranked 26th out of 28 European Union member states regarding the share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) spent by government on education and health, according to Eurostat data released on Friday.

In 2016, the public expenditure on education in Romania was equivalent to 3.7 percent of GDP, the third lowest rate among EU member states. Ireland (3.3 percent of GDP) and Bulgaria (3.4 percent) are the two UE member states which spent less than Romania on education.

Education, with a share of 4.7 percent of GDP, is the fourth largest item of public expenditure in EU, after social protection (19.1%), health (7.1%) and ‘general public services’ such as external affairs and public debt transactions (6%).

On health, Romania spent 4 percent of GDP in 2016, being also the third lowest-ranked EU member state, after Cyprus (2.6 percent) and Latvia (3.7 percent).

Romania’s goverment spent more than EU average only on public order, with 2 percent of GDP compared to 1.7 percent in EU, economic affairs (4.5 percent / 4 percent in EU) and housing and community amenities (1.2 percent / 0.6 percent).

Romania’s total public expenditure was equivalent to 34 percent of GDP in 2016, second-lowest rate among EU member states after Ireland, compared to the EU average of 46.3 percent of GDP.