evidence: In 2021, public spending on education relative to GDP was highest in Sweden (7.1%) and Denmark (6.4%), while it was lowest in Romania (2.9%). [...] In 2021, the highest share of total expenditure on education in the EU (excluding Estonia, Ireland, Greece, France and Sweden; including 2019 data for Croatia and Hungary) was allocated to primary and lower secondary education, around two-fifths (40.8%). The next largest share was for tertiary education, which accounted for approximately one-quarter (25.8%) of total expenditure on education. The third largest share was for upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education, which accounted for just over one-fifth (21.8%) of the total. The smallest share of total expenditure on education was recorded for pre-primary education, at just over one-tenth (11.6%). [...] In 2021, the highest level of public expenditure on education relative to gross domestic product (GDP) among the EU countries was observed in Sweden (7.1%), followed by Denmark (6.4%), Belgium (6.3%) and Finland (6.2%) – see Figure 2. Among the remaining EU countries, ratios of public expenditure on education relative to GDP ranged between 3.5% and 5.5%, with only Romania below this range (2.9%). Relatively high ratios were also recorded among the northern EFTA members, Iceland (7.0%) and Norway (6.2%).