BEIJING, July 22 -- China's annual expenditure on education totaled 6.46 trillion yuan (about 906 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, the Ministry of Education said in a press release on Monday.

The figure increased 5.3 percent from 2022, according to the ministry.

Spending on compulsory education totaled 2.84 trillion yuan in 2023, accounting for the greatest share of the overall expenditure, followed by spending on higher education at 1.76 trillion yuan, according to the statement.

Spending on preschool and high school education came in at 538.2 billion yuan and 1.02 trillion yuan, respectively.

Spending on higher education saw the fastest year-on-year growth in 2023, rising 7.6 percent.

Year-on-year increases in spending on preschool, compulsory and senior high school education came in at 4.7 percent, 6 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively.

Kindergartens saw the fastest per student expenditure growth last year, increasing 8.8 percent year on year.

Expenditure figures for primary schools, junior high schools, senior high schools, vocational schools and universities all increased from the year prior, with respective growth rates of 4.3 percent, 2.7 percent, 3.8 percent, 0.7 percent and 3.9 percent reported.