The country’s total expenses on education escalated consistently throughout the period. From PhP81.1 billion in 1991, education expenditures increased threefold to reach PhP243.2 billion in 1998, thereby registering an average growth rate of 17.1 percent. With this rise in education spending, its share to GNP also rose from 6.5 percent in 1991 to 8.6 percent in 1998.

The financial burden for providing education to the populace is shared by the government and the household sector, with 48.1 and 45.8 percent in 1998, respectively. The four other sectors - financial corporations, non-financial corporations, non-profit institutions serving households, and the rest of the world – together accounted for the remaining 6.1 percent.

Measured in absolute amounts, the participation of the private pre-need and insurance industry in education financing has been building, with education expenditures of PhP348 million in 1991 to PhP3.4 billion in 1998. Nonetheless, its share in the total education expenditures has remained low (0.4 percent in 1991, only increasing by one percentage point until 1998). 

As expected, basic education received the biggest share in education funds. It accounted for over half (54.1 percent) of total education expenditures in 1991 and more than two-thirds (70.9 percent) in 1998.

In terms of government education expenditures as a proportion of GNP, the Philippines ranked third among its Asian counterparts, with only three countries recording higher ratios than its 4.0 percent in 1997. Gauged as a proportion of total government expenditures, the education expenditures of the Philippine government placed the country on top of its neighbors with 20.6 percent in 1997, bested only by Singapore with 23.3 percent in 1995.