Political situation

The recent government was established on the basis of the elections to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic which were held in October 2021; the government was appointed in December 2021. The government consists of the SPOLU coalition (ODS, KDU-ČSL and TOP 09) with the Pirates and STAN coalition (Piráti a STAN). The Prime Minister is Petr Fiala (SPOLU, ODS).

In the area of education, youth and sports the government committed itself – among others – to maintain a quality financial evaluation of pedagogical staff, introducing a system of teachers' professional development and other tools of professional support, or elaboration of a reform of undergraduate teacher education and training. Further adjustments to the framework educational programmes are planned, with particular emphasis on reducing the overall volume of curriculum and developing literacies. The government also plans to actively address regional disparities in the quality of education through targeted support for disadvantaged regions. In the field of higher education, the government has introduced a new position of Minister for Science, Research and Innovation. For example, support for professionally oriented study programmes, digitization of processes and administration, or reform of doctoral studies are planned.

For more precise information, see the Policy Statement of the Government of the Czech Republic.

Economic situation

Czechia is a country with a developed export-oriented market economy. The main industries include the chemical industry, engineering, food processing and the metallurgical industry. From the above, the most important for export is the automobile industry.

On February 24, 2022, Russian armed forces invaded Ukraine, beginning an unprecedented military conflict and the associated global energy crisis, the effects of which are currently being felt in most countries. In particular, the sharp rise in energy and raw material prices has adversely affected energy-intensive industries in particular and has had an impact on the final prices of a number of products. The sharp rise in prices and the associated fall in real incomes have caused a decline in household consumption, which has been reflected in a slowdown in some service sectors and in trade.

This is also associated with high inflation - the average annual inflation rate in the Czech Republic in 2022 was 15.1 %, the highest in 20 years, which is 11.3 percentage points higher than in 2021. High inflation slows down economic growth and lowers living standards. Particularly strong consumer price increases are occurring in food, gas, electricity, and rent. In June 2023, the prices of goods rose by 10.7 % in aggregate and the prices of services by 7.9 % annually. The largest contributors to the increase in consumer prices were housing prices, in particular the increase in energy prices (heat, hot water, electricity, water and sewerage) and food prices. In the area of recreation and culture, prices of full-service holidays rose by 14.4 % and prices of catering and accommodation services by around 14 %. In contrast, prices of fuels and oils fell by 25.0% compared to the previous year.

Gross domestic product in 2022 grew by 2.4 % annually.

60.3 % of inhabitants aged 15+ and 77.1 % aged 15–64 are economically active (data for the 1st quarter of 2023). With increasing educational attainment the age of entrance into employment is raising; however, the retirement age is shifting to higher figures as well. In the 1st quarter of 2023, the employment rate of the age group 15+ was 58.8 %. In the long term, the proportion of people working in agriculture has decreased while the number working in industry and services has risen.

The unemployment rate for the 15+ age group has remained very low for a long time, at 2.6% in the first quarter of 2023.  Unemployment shows large regional differences and is also strongly conditioned by age, gender, and educational attainment.

In 2021 the share of expenditure on education to GDP was 4.6 %. Despite of increase in recent years, it is still relatively low in comparison with other European countries. For funding of education see Chapter 3 on Funding in Education.

Source: Websites of the Czech Statistical Office

Gross domestic product and total public expenditure on education in 2011 – 2021 (in billions CZK and EUR)

EUR/CZK 23.757 - 18 July 2023  (European Central Bank); the currency exchange rate applies for the given year

Note: Including expenditure by the Ministry of Defence

1) The GDP in current prices in each year is as published by the Czech Statistical Office as of June 2022.

 

Source: Yearbook of Trends. Education in Czechia 2010/11-2020/21

Education attainment by age groups

Percentage of the population that has attained a specific level of education by age group in %:

¹⁾ ISCED 3-4.

²⁾ ISCED 5-8 (tertiary professional education at a conservatoire (with graduate examination) (vyšší odborné vzdělání v konzervatoři) – ISCED 550, tertiary professional education (vyšší odborné vzdělání) – ISCED 655, and higher education – ISCED 645, ISCED 746, ISCED 8).

³⁾ ISCED 3-8 (at least ISCED 3, i.e. upper secondary education with the VET certificate (výuční list) or upper secondary education with the Maturita examination (maturitní zkouška)).

Source: Eurostat Database