Of the R395 billion spent by provincial government during the 2012/13 financial year, 43% (R170 billion) was spent on education, while 30% (R119 billion) was spent on health. This is one of the findings from the latest release of Stats SA’s Financial Statistics of Provincial Government report, published on 29 September 2014. The remaining R106 billion was spent on expenditure split over: economic affairs (R42 billion or 11%); general public services (R20 billion or 5%); housing and community amenities (R18 billion or 5%); social protection (R12 billion or 3%); recreation, culture and religion (R6 billion or 2%); public order and safety (R4 billion or 1%); and environmental protection (R3 billion or 1%).

In 2012/13, the province with the largest portion of education expenditure was KwaZulu-Natal (R36 billion), followed by Gauteng (R29 billion), Eastern Cape (R27 billion), Limpopo (R22 billion), Western Cape and Mpumalanga (about R15 billion each), North West and Free State (about R11 billion each), and Northern Cape (R4 billion).

Provincial government education expenditure increased by 55% from 2008/09 to 2012/13; with Gauteng recording the largest increase (+69%), followed by Free State (+57%) and Western Cape (+56%). The lowest percentage increases in provincial government education expenditure were recorded in Eastern Cape (+47%) and Limpopo (+49%).

The province with the largest portion of government expenditure in 2012/13 for health was KwaZulu-Natal (R27 billion), followed by Gauteng (R26 billion), Eastern Cape (R15 billion) Western Cape (R14 billion) and Limpopo (R13 billion); while North West, Free State and Mpumalanga (about R7 billion each) and Northern Cape (R3 billion) had the lowest portion of government expenditure for health.

Between 2008/09 and 2012/13 provincial government health expenditure increased by 63%. Northern Cape had the largest increase (+80%), followed by Gauteng (+72%) and Free State (+70%). The smallest percentage increases in provincial government health expenditure were recorded in Eastern Cape (+50%) and North West (+57%).

Download the 2012/13 report here.
Results for the 2008/09 financial year can be downloaded here.