ODA Spending

How much ODA does the EUI allocate to education?

The EUI spent US$1.5 billion of ODA on education in 2023.

With an exception in 2020, funding for education from the EUI has been decreasing since 2017, driven by a reduction of funding for projects targeting basic education.

How does the EUI allocate educational ODA?

Bilateral Spending

In 2023, 60% of the EUI ’s ODA for education was channeled bilaterally, in line with overall EU development spending. 39% of the funding was channeled through multilaterals as earmarked funding through multilaterals.

As in previous years, the EUI’s bilateral funding for education in 2022 prioritized:

• Education policy and administrative management;
• Education facilities and training;
• Higher education; and
• Vocational training.

Multilateral Spending and Commitments

The EUI's more recent commitments to multilaterals in education are summarized in the table below.

Funding and Policy Outlook

What is the EUI's current outlook on educational ODA?

The EUI considers education essential to achieving the SDGs, reducing social inequalities, and advancing gender equality. It falls within the European Consensus on Development's framework: ‘People – human development and dignity’ framework. The EU has reached its 2008 commitment to increase the proportion of NDICI’s budget for education from 7% to 10% by 2024. This is half of what the EU aims to spend on human development overall (at least 20%). Under former Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen the Commission dedicated over 13% of development funding to education. Her successor Jozef Síkela expressed commitment to maintaining the same level of education funding during the current EU long-term budget.

Increasing focus on education in emergencies and fragile contexts is likely to continue. According to the EC, the share of humanitarian funding from the EUI dedicated to education increased from less than 1% in 2015 to 10% in 2019. Since then, the EU continues to maintain 10% of its annual humanitarian budget for education in emergencies, in particular access to education for girls in humanitarian contexts.

Education is one of five pillars of the EU's Global Gateway strategy. The EU is committed to invest in quality education, with particular attention to the inclusion of girls and women. Global Gateway aims to assist partner countries in transforming their education systems, facilitating mobility, and strengthening networks and peer learning across higher education institutions.

Via the Global Gateway, the Commission invested EUR 700 million (US$828 million) to the GPE(Global Partnership for Education) for the period 2021-2027 to help transform education systems in up to 90 countries and territories. Overall, the EUI and Member States pledged EUR1.7 billion (US$2 billion), representing the biggest contribution to the GPE(Global Partnership for Education). Furthermore, the EUI and EU Member States pledged EUR313 million (US$370 million) to 'Education Cannot Wait' to help reach vulnerable crisis-affected children with immediate and longer-term education support until 2027. Out of this amount, EUR52.5 million (US$ 62.1 million) is from the European Commission budget.

Key bodies