Data from October 2025
Planned article update: November 2026
Highlights
Total expenditure on social protection benefits in the EU was €4 925 billion in 2024, equivalent to 27.3% of GDP.
In 2024, total expenditure on social protection benefits across the EU was 6.9% higher than in 2023.
Annual change in expenditure on social protection benefits, 2024
Preliminary data on European Union (EU) expenditure in 2024 show that EU countries spent €4 925 billion on social protection benefits, or 27.3% of gross domestic product (GDP). This was an increase of 6.9% compared with 2023.
The largest increase in social protection expenditure was observed in Estonia (up 19.5% compared with 2023), while Greece recorded the smallest increase (up 3.2%). There are considerable variations between EU countries when it comes to levels of social protection expenditure relative to GDP. In 2024, this share ranged from 32.5% in Finland, 31.9% in France and 31.8% in Austria to 13.4% in Malta and 12.4% in Ireland.
Within the EU, the highest expenditure on social protection benefits was recorded for the old age and survivors’ function (mostly pensions), nearly half (47.0%) of all expenditure on social protection benefits in 2024, followed by the sickness/health care function, which accounted for 29.7%.
This article presents statistics on expenditure on social protection benefits in the EU as well as in EFTA and enlargement countries. These statistics are collected through the European system of integrated social protection statistics (ESSPROS). The data for 2024 are early estimates published by Eurostat on October 2025; these preliminary data were provided by the reporting countries based on the ESS agreement on early estimates for social protection expenditure main indicators and are subject to revision.
Latest annual change in expenditure on social protection benefits
In 2024, the total expenditure on social protection benefits in the EU amounted to €4 925 billion. Compared with 2023, this represented an increase of 6.9% (in current price terms).
Annual changes for countries shown in Figure 1 have been calculated in national currencies (thereby avoiding the influence of exchange rate fluctuations with respect to the euro). Note that for the EU aggregate and for euro area countries, variations are based on data in euro terms.
- Across EU countries, the fastest increases in expenditure in 2024 (compared with 2023) were observed in Estonia (up 19.5%), Croatia (up 17.8%) and Romania (up 17.5%).
- Expenditure on social protection benefits rose at a relatively slow pace in 2024 in Greece (up 3.2%), Sweden (up 3.9%), Italy and Denmark (both up 4.3%).
_SPS2025.png)
Source: Eurostat (spr_exp_func)
Expenditure on social protection benefits relative to GDP
The ratio of expenditure on social protection benefits relative to GDP is influenced not only by the level of expenditure but also by developments in GDP. Between 2023 and 2024, this ratio increased from 26.7% to 27.3%, up 0.6 percentage points. The increase in this ratio resulted from GDP rising at a slower pace (up 4.4% in nominal terms) than expenditure on social protection benefits (up 6.9%).
In 2024, there were considerable variations between EU countries with respect to their levels of expenditure on social protection benefits relative to GDP. The highest ratios were 32.5% in Finland, 31.9% in France and 31.8% in Austria. These were followed by Germany, Belgium, Italy, Denmark and Sweden (with ratios in the range of 27% to 30%). At the other end of the range, the lowest ratios were observed in Ireland (12.4%), Malta (13.4%) and Hungary (16.6%).
Across the EU countries, the ratio of expenditure on social protection benefits relative to GDP:
- increased in 24 EU countries, most strongly in Estonia (up 2.3 points) and Austria (up 2.1 points)
- was unchanged in Sweden
- decreased in Greece (down 0.5 points) and Denmark (down 0.2 points).
_SPS2025.png)
Expenditure on social protection benefits analysed by function
An analysis by function reveals that, within the EU, the highest expenditure on social protection benefits was recorded for the old age and survivors’ function (largely composed of pensions), which accounted for close to half (47.0%) of all expenditure on social protection benefits in 2024. The next highest share was for the sickness/health care function, which accounted for 29.7% of the EU’s expenditure on social protection benefits, while each of the remaining 4 functions (shown in Table 1) accounted for single-digit shares. Among these, the highest proportion was recorded for the family/children function (8.7% of total expenditure on social protection benefits), followed by the disability function (7.0%), the unemployment function (4.0%) and the housing and social exclusion function (3.6%).
Source: Eurostat (spr_exp_func)
As noted above, benefits for old age and survivors accounted for the highest share of EU expenditure on social protection benefits in 2024, at 47.0%. This pattern of the old age and survivors’ function recording the highest share of total expenditure was repeated in nearly all EU countries. The only exception was Ireland, where the sickness/health care function was the largest.
- There were 8 countries where more than half of their total expenditure on social protection benefits was directed to the old age and survivors’ function, with a peak of 62.3% in Greece, followed by Italy (59.9%), Portugal (55.3%) and Romania (53.6%). In some cases, relatively high shares of expenditure on benefits for old age and survivors may be linked to population ageing (and its related costs).
- Apart from in Ireland, the second highest level of expenditure on social protection benefits across the EU countries was for sickness/health care. Its share ranged from highs of 45.9% in Ireland and 37.4% in Slovenia down to lows of 23.4% in Greece, 23.0% in Romania, 22.8% in Finland, 22.4% in Denmark and 22.2% in Italy.
- The share of social protection benefits for family/children ranged from highs of 15.6% in Poland and 14.1% in Luxembourg down to lows of 4.7% in Greece and 4.6% in Cyprus. In a majority (18) of the countries, the family/children function accounted for the third highest level of benefits.
- The highest share of benefits for the disability function were recorded in Denmark (18.5%). There were much smaller shares recorded in Cyprus (3.3%), Malta, Greece (both 4.2%) and Poland (4.4%). The disability function accounted for the third highest level of benefits in 8 countries.
- The share of expenditure for unemployment benefits generally ranged from 1.5% in Croatia to 5.3% in Lithuania. Malta and Poland (both 0.8%) were below this range, while France (5.5%) and Spain (5.9%) were above it.
- Expenditure on housing and social exclusion as a share of total social protection benefits was highest in the Netherlands (6.8%), followed by Cyprus (6.5%) and Ireland (6.4%). By contrast, it was lowest in Estonia (0.8%). The housing and social exclusion function accounted for the third highest level of benefits in Cyprus.
Source data for tables and graphs
Data sources
The statistics presented in this article were collected from national statistical authorities and/or ministries of social affairs. For more information about the data sources, please refer to the methodological notes available on CIRCABC.
In February 2024, an ESS agreement on early estimates for social protection expenditure main indicators was endorsed by the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC) with the purpose to improve the timeliness of a subset of social protection indicators.
Context
The main policy framework in the field of EU social protection is the European pillar of social rights.
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Database
Thematic section
Publications
Methodology
- Social protection methodology
- Social protection (ESMS metadata file – spr_esms)
Legislation
- Regulation (EC) No 458/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 April 2007 on the European system of integrated social protection statistics (ESSPROS).