Cyprus education spending exceeds EU average as pupil results remain among Europe’s weakest
Cyprus allocated 13.2 per cent of public expenditure to education in 2024, while OECD PISA 2022 scores remained low.
Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus devoted a larger share of its public budget to education than most EU countries in 2024, but its pupils continued to record some of Europe’s weakest results, according to European Commission and OECD data published on Tuesday.
Education expenditure
Education accounted for 13.2 per cent of Cyprus’ total public expenditure in 2024, compared with the EU average of 9.7 per cent.
Spending amounted to 5 per cent of gross domestic product, or €1.8 billion.
The share of public expenditure allocated to education rose by 2.5 percentage points between 2014 and 2024, the largest increase among EU member states during the period.
Teacher salaries
A large proportion of education spending is allocated to salaries, with Cyprus recording the EU’s second-highest share of education expenditure directed towards staff pay, behind Belgium.
Teachers also receive comparatively high salaries as they progress through their careers. For the 2023/24 school year, the annual starting salary for teachers in Cyprus was €26,600.
After 15 years, the annual salary rises to €50,576, while teachers at the top of the salary scale can earn €66,323.
The European Commission’s analysis placed Cyprus among countries with strong salary progression, with teachers’ salaries potentially increasing by up to 149 per cent over a career.
Pupil performance
The pupil performance figures showed a markedly different picture. In the OECD’s PISA 2022 assessment, Cypriot 15-year-olds scored 418 points in mathematics, 381 in reading and 411 in science.
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