German gov't spends €7,100 for every pupil on education in 2016

German government spent on average 7,100 euros on each student of public schools in 2016, about 200 euros more than the expenditures in 2015, official figures by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) published on Thursday show.

The education costs varied depending on what kind of schools pupils were in. While pupils from German secondary schools such as integrated comprehensive schools were supported with 8,200 euros, pupils from schools providing vocational education were only funded with 4,900 euros. According to Destatis, the lower figure was particularly due to the fact that many vocational schools only run part-time syllabuses.

As for where the money went, 80 percent of public school expenditures in Germany were spent on school staffs while cost associated with school facilities as well as teaching materials were financed with 900 euros per pupil on average.

The highest expenditures per pupil of around 9,000 euros were spent in Germany's capital Berlin as well as in Hamburg. The lowest expenditure of 6,200 euros per pupil was recorded in Germany's most populous federal state, North Rhine-Westphalia.

According to the statistical office, the regional gap in governmental education finance is also explained by the different school systems of Germany's federal states, for example in day-care services offered or in the income that teachers earn.

Also including universities, total public education expenditure in Germany amounted to 133.4 billion euros in 2017, the Federal Statistical Office revealed in December last year.