General Government expenditure trends 2005-2010: EU countries compared - Issue number 42/2011 - Products Statistics in Focus

In 2010, general government expenditure amounted at 50.3% of EU-27 GDP. More than half is devoted to social protection and health. The other functions of government spending mainly concern general public services, education and economic affairs. This publication analyses the main trends related to general government expenditure, particularly looking at the purpose/function, i.e. the socio-economic objective of the government expenditure in question.