How much did EU governments spend on fire protection?
In 2021, general government total expenditure in EU countries on fire protection services’ amounted to €34.1 billion, representing a 2.5% increase compared with 2020. The share in general government total expenditure was 0.5%. Overall, in the EU, government expenditure on fire protection services as a share of overall total expenditure remained stable at around 0.4 – 0.5% since the beginning of the time series in 2001.
The share of government expenditure on fire protection as a ratio of total expenditure varies among EU countries. In 2021, Lithuania and Romania had the highest share of expenditure on fire protection services with 0.7% of total expenditure, followed by Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Estonia, Greece and Luxembourg with 0.6%.
In contrast, Denmark reported the lowest share of expenditure on fire protection services in total expenditure at 0.1%, followed by Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Austria, Portugal and Slovenia, all with 0.3%.
Source dataset: gov_10a_exp
Since 2011 and in the space of a decade, most EU countries increased their total expenditure as well as their expenditure on fire protection services. Luxembourg registered the highest increases in expenditure on fire protection services (+387%). Three EU countries decreased their spending on fire protection services in 2021 as compared to a decade earlier: Cyprus (-20%), Denmark (-17%) and Croatia (-14%).
For more information
- Thematic section on government finance statistics
- Database on government finance statistics
- Interactive infographic on government expenditure by function
- Online publication on general government expenditure by function
Methodological notes
- General government expenditure for the function 'fire protection services' (according to the Classification of the Functions of Government – COFOG) is based on national accounts/government finance statistics.
- ‘Fire protection services´ is part of the COFOG division ‘public order and safety’. According to the classification, it relates to the “administration of fire prevention and firefighting affairs and services; operation of regular and auxiliary fire brigades and of other fire prevention and firefighting services maintained by public authorities; operation or support of fire prevention and firefighting training programmes. It includes civil protection services such as mountain rescue, beach surveillance, evacuation of flooded areas, etc.”
- Manual on sources and methods for the compilation of COFOG statistics — Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG)
- Metadata file on government expenditure by function.
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