Region of Murcia highest dropout rate
- Onda Regional Murcia reported April 27 that a CSIF education report places the Region of Murcia at Spain’s highest school dropout rate. - The report puts Murcia’s early-leaving rate at 20.58%, versus about 4% in the Basque Country, and says regional education spending averages €7,200 per pupil. - Spain hit a record-low 12.8% dropout rate in 2025 while Murcia stayed worst in the country. (orm.es)
Murcia has the highest early school-leaving rate in Spain again, according to a Central Sindical Independiente y de Funcionarios report cited by Onda Regional Murcia on April 27. (orm.es) The union report puts Murcia’s rate at 20.58%, the share of 18- to 24-year-olds with at most lower secondary schooling who are no longer in education or training. (orm.es) (ine.es) That leaves a gap of roughly 17 points with the Basque Country, where the same report says the rate is below 4%. (orm.es) The story lands after Murcia briefly moved off the bottom in 2024, when its rate fell to 18.2% and Baleares posted the worst figure. (orm.es) (csif.es) By January 2026, new labor-force-survey data showed Spain’s national rate had dropped to a record-low 12.8% in 2025, while Murcia climbed to 20.6%, again the highest among the autonomous communities. (europapress.es) (laopiniondemurcia.es) The union says the divide is not only about dropout rates. It also points to differences between regions in teacher pay, per-pupil spending and the use of temporary staff. (orm.es) On spending, the report says Murcia is around the national average at €7,200 per student, but still far from what the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development considers necessary. (orm.es) CSIF says nominal education spending rose 37% between 2009 and 2025, but inflation left the real increase per student at just 0.3%. (orm.es) Murcia’s regional government has argued the headline rate is shaped by labor demand and demographics, saying some young people leave for jobs in agriculture, construction and hospitality. (csif.es) (laopiniondemurcia.es) The region already has a 2024-2028 plan and a January 31, 2025 order regulating its Program for Prevention and Intervention in Absenteeism and Reduction of Early School Leaving. (carm.es) For now, the numbers leave Murcia moving against the national trend: Spain is at a historic low, and Murcia is still above one in five. (europapress.es) (laopiniondemurcia.es)
