Economic Downturn Impact... Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's Revenue and Expenditure Decreased by Over 1 Trillion Won Last Year

Revenue of 13.3 trillion, Expenditure of 11.7 trillion
"Causes of Decrease in National and Local Tax Revenues"
High Dependence on Transfers from Local Governments in Revenue
Over 50% of Expenditure is Personnel Expenses

The scale of revenue and expenditure settlement for the special education fund managed by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education last year decreased by more than 1 trillion won compared to the previous year.

According to the "2023 Easy-to-Understand Settlement Report" released by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on the 16th, the total revenue and expenditure settlement scale of the special education fund for the 2023 fiscal year was 13.3145 trillion won in total revenue and 11.7665 trillion won in total expenditure. This represents a decrease of 1.4237 trillion won (9.7%) in revenue and 1.045 trillion won (8.2%) in expenditure compared to the previous year.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education explained, "The main reason is the significant reduction in national and local tax revenues due to last year's economic downturn, which also led to a sharp decline in transfer income."

In terms of revenue, out of the total settlement amount of 13.3145 trillion won, transfer income from the central government and local governments accounted for 11.1067 trillion won (83.4%), whereas independent revenue was 250.1 billion won (1.9%), showing a structure heavily dependent on transfer income from the central government and local governments.

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, is holding a press conference on the 10th anniversary of his inauguration at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 2nd. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Regarding expenditure, out of 11.7665 trillion won, personnel-related expenses were the highest at 6.6354 trillion won, accounting for 56.4%. This was followed by ▲various education project expenses at 2.8064 trillion won (23.8%) ▲facility project expenses at 1.0088 trillion won (8.6%) ▲school operation expenses at 1.0017 trillion won (8.5%) ▲financial activities at 232 billion won (2.0%) ▲contingency and others at 45.3 billion won (0.4%) ▲institution operation expenses at 36.9 billion won (0.3%).

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education plans to collect diverse opinions from citizens on improvements by disclosing the "2023 Easy-to-Understand Settlement Report" on the National Idea Box and Seoul Education Communication Plaza from the 16th to the 31st. Through the settlement report, citizens can check ▲basic status of the Office of Education ▲financial status of the Office of Education ▲revenue and expenditure settlement of the special education fund ▲fund settlement ▲financial statements, among others.

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, stated, "We will continue to provide various information on the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education’s settlement to enhance transparency and accountability of Seoul’s education finances, improve citizens’ accessibility and understanding, and do our best to execute education activity budgets despite rapidly changing financial conditions."