Eurostat is publishing for the first time early estimates of social protection benefits expenditure for 2019.
These early estimates are the main headline indicators for the European System of integrated Social Protection Statistics (ESSPROS) and are being provided on a voluntary basis. This significant improvement in timeliness provides users with fresher data on social protection expenditure.
Among the Member States for which 2019 estimates are available, social protection benefits expenditure as a percentage of GDP was highest in France (31% of GDP), Denmark (30%) and Germany (29%), while it was lowest in Malta and Latvia (both 15%) as well as in Lithuania, Bulgaria and Hungary (all 16%).
Old age & survivors benefits made up the major part of social protection benefits in all the Member States, for which data are available, except Germany, where sickness/health care and disability had the highest share. The share of old age and survivors benefits in the total ranged from 38% in Germany and 41% in Denmark to 58% in Italy and 54% in Cyprus.
The share of sickness, healthcare & disability benefits in the total was highest in Germany (44%), Czechia and Malta (both 40%), while it was lowest in Cyprus (26%) and Italy (28%).
The share of family benefits in the total ranged from 4% in Italy, 6% in Malta and 7% in Belgium, France and Cyprus to 12% in Germany and Hungary. Unemployment benefits varied between 2% in Malta and Hungary to 6% in Belgium, France and Italy. Housing and social exclusion benefits ranged from 1% in Latvia and Bulgaria to 9% in Cyprus and 7% in Denmark.
The source datasets for 2019 early estimates on social protection benefits are available on Eurostat’s website section on social protection statistics.
The full set of social protection data is available, for 2018 and previous years, in the database dedicated to social protection statistics.
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