Figure 6.

Public and private expenditure on pre-primary education(3-to 6 year-olds only) as a percentage of GDP

Source : Starting Strong II, Figure 5.3, p. 105.

Note. Early education expenditure for Belgium and France is higher than this figure indicates, and significantly higher for Denmark, Finland and Sweden. In Belgium and France, early education begins before 3 years. For Denmark, Finland and Sweden, it is probable that this figure identifies expenditure only for what is considered free educational provision, e.g. the Finnish figure includes pre-primary education programmes for 6-year-old children (pre-school year preceding compulsory education) and centre-based day care for 3-to 5-year-old children, based on an expenditure estimation of 50%. Canada is absent from this figure as data are not provided in OECD, Education at a Glance, 2005. The last data received from Canada are for the year 2000, when Canada spent 0.2% of GDP on pre-primary education, for 3-to 6-year-olds. Data for Korea cover only kindergarten education and do not include public expenditure in the parallel child care system. From OECD (2005), Education at a Glance.