Brussels:In 2025, the total expenditure on social protection benefits in the European Union (EU) reached £5,183 billion, marking a 4.9% increase compared with 2024.
According to Wam, data published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, revealed that social protection benefits expenditure represented 27.5% of the EU's GDP, indicating a 0.2 percentage points decrease compared with the previous year.
Among EU countries, the highest social protection benefits expenditure as a percentage of GDP was recorded in Austria (32.4%), Finland (32.2%), and France (32.1%). Conversely, the lowest percentages were observed in Ireland (11.7%), Malta (13.8%), and Hungary (16.7%).
Within the social protection benefits, the largest expenditures were on old age (£2,152 billion, 41.5% of the total) and sickness/health care (£1,556 billion, 30.0%). Other categories included disability, survivors, family/children, unemployment, housing, and social exclusion not classified elsewhere.
In euro terms, social protection benefits expenditure increased in all EU countries in 2025. The largest increases compared with 2024 were recorded in Croatia (+15.4%), Bulgaria (+12.1%), and Lithuania (+11.6%), while the smallest increases were seen in Greece (+0.6%), Romania (+0.7%), and Finland (+1.3%).