The latest figures released by the EU’s statistical service reveal that spending on social protection benefits accounted for 27.3% of the bloc’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), marking an increase of 0.6 percentage points compared to 2023.
Among EU Member States, the proportion of GDP spent on social protection benefits was highest in Finland (32.5% of GDP), followed by France (31.9%) and Austria (31.8%), and lowest in Ireland (12.4%), Malta (13.4%), and Hungary (16.6%).
In Portugal, such expenditures represented 23.2% of GDP in 2024, up from 22.5% the previous year.
According to Eurostat, among the various benefits provided, old-age pensions (2.044 billion euros or 41.5% of the total) and sickness/health care benefits (1.463 billion euros, 29.7%) constitute the largest expenses.
