Last Year`s Household Spending on Private Education Amounted to Eight Trillion Won

It is estimated that total private expenditures on education in Korea amounted to eight trillion won last year. When taking into account the expenses of studying abroad, total private education expenditures are estimated to be over 16 trillion won, surpassing public education spending.

The Bank of Korea announced yesterday that total household spending on private education last year amounted to 7.96 trillion won, a 7.2 percent increase from 2003 when it was 7.419 trillion won.

Considering the total household spending on education of 23.33 trillion won last year, which increased by six percent from 2003, the total spending on private education sector actually increased despite economic woes.

The percentage of household spending on private education out of total educational spending shows a steady annual increase: 28.4 percent in 2000, 31.4 percent in 2001, 32.0 percent in 2002, 33.7 percent in 2003, and 34.1 percent in 2004.

Kyung-Joon Chung news91@donga.com