These data describes what resources and services education funding is spent on, by type of institution (public, independent private and government-dependent private), without regard to sources of funds (i.e. whether funds come from public, private or international sources).
The nature of expenditure distinguishes between two main categories: current and capital expenditure. Current expenditure are further disaggregated in compensation of staff and other current expenditure.
Values are expressed in both local currencies and USD-equivalent, converted using PPP conversion factors. Figures in constant prices and constant PPP are recommended for time series analyses.

National

Both public and private institutions. The classification between public and private institution is made according to whether a public agency or a private entity has the ultimate control over the institution. For private institutions, the distinction between government-dependent and independent refers only to the degree of a private institution's dependence on funding from government sources: a government-dependent private institution receives 50% or more of its core funding from government agencies or one whose teaching personnel are paid by government agency. An independent private institution is one that receives less than 50% of its core funding from government agencies and whose teaching personnel are not paid by a government agency.

Data cover both current and capital expenditure. Current expenditure is defined as expenditure on goods and services consumed within the current year, and is further broken down into expenditure on compensation of personnel and expenditure on other resources. Capital expenditure is expenditure on assets that last longer than one year. It includes spending on construction, renovation and major repair of buildings and expenditure on new or replacement equipment.
The total funds received by educational institutions from all sources may not be precisely equal to total expenditure in the reference period. This is because the institutions have either added to or reduced their fund balances during the period in question.