Affluent Chinese families cut summer education spend to a three-year low of 61,100 yuan

A doubling inside a 277-household survey is 26 families. Babazhenbang's top tutoring bracket is exactly that big: 9.4% of its panel paid more than 60,000 yuan for tuition over the July-August break, against an implied 4.7% a year earlier ^[1][3][3]. The participation figure is thinner than the percentage suggests too, since 84.5% against 80.7% is about eleven more households in a panel that size ^[2][4].

The totals went the other way. Average spending on summer education programmes came in at 61,100 yuan, down 7,900 yuan from 69,000, an 11.4% fall and the lowest of the past three years ^[5][1]. Tutoring averaged 24,000 yuan, with maths, English and exam preparation the top choices ^[4], roughly 39% of that summer budget ^[5].

The bracket that pays for overseas-admissions programmes is the one that emptied. Families spending above 100,000 yuan were 12.5% of the panel, close to last year, 26.9 points below the 39.4% of 2024 and under the 26.7% of 2023 ^[6][2].

Where the panel comes from matters. Babazhenbang's database covers hundreds of schools preparing students for overseas study ^[1], so the households answering are already on the international track, and the pullback is measured among the buyers most committed to it. SCMP reported that the share of children who travelled overseas during the summer break fell this year ^[10].

"Families that have given up the international route are putting the money into domestic tutoring instead," said Kent Cai, founder of the international education consultancy Zhejiang Newway ^[8]. "Once they switch to the domestic education track, competition becomes even more intense, so parents are willing to spend more on tutoring to increase their sense of certainty," Cai said ^[9]. SCMP reported that analysts traced the emphasis on preparing children for work in China to a tough domestic job market along with thinning interest in overseas education ^[11].

Substitution is the reading SCMP leads with, families moving money out of programmes aimed at foreign university admission and into local education to compete for domestic jobs ^[12]. Compression fits as well: the average budget fell 11.4%, and 15.5% of families spent under 10,000 yuan, the highest proportion in recent years ^[1][7]. A switch of tracks alone would leave the total near where it was.

I would put more weight on compression, and the difference decides who is hurt: an agency selling foreign-admissions programmes loses volume under either reading, while a tutoring provider takes a larger share of a smaller pool. The release puts this year's tutoring average at 24,000 yuan and does not give a year-earlier comparison ^[4], so for now the substitution case rests on percentages of 277 households.