In 2018, 1.0% of general government total expenditure across the European Union (EU) was allocated to cultural services (not including broadcasting and publishing services). This share has remained relatively stable over time, accounting for 1.0% of general government total expenditure each year from 2013 to 2018.
However, there are considerable differences between the EU Member States. In 2018, Latvia recorded the largest share of cultural services in the general government expenditure (2.8%), followed by Hungary (2.7%) and Estonia (2.4%). The lowest share was recorded in Greece (0.3%), with the shares in Cyprus (0.5%), Italy and Portugal (both 0.6%) slightly higher.
There were generally relatively small changes reported in a majority of the EU Member States between 2013 and 2018. The main exception was Hungary, where the share of cultural services in general government expenditure increased from 1.5% to 2.7%.
Source data: gov_10a_exp
For more information:
- Eurostat’s Statistics Explained article Culture statistics - government expenditure on culture.
Note:
- The data presented are classified according to the Classification of the functions of government (COFOG). The data analysed covers expenditure for COFOG group 08.2 ‘Cultural services’.
- The European Union (EU) includes 27 EU Member States. The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020. Further information is published here.
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