Since 2011, social protection expenditure in the European Union (EU) has increased slightly, from 28.3% of GDP in 2011 to 28.7% in 2014, according to data from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In 2014, the two main sources of funding of social protection at EU level were general government contributions from taxes, making up 40% of total receipts, and social contributions at 54%. The EU average continued to mask major disparities between Member States. In 2014, social protection expenditure represented at least 30% of GDP in France (34.3%), Denmark (33.5%), Finland (31.9%), the Netherlands (30.9%), Belgium (30.3%), Austria and Italy (both 30.0%). In contrast, social protection expenditure stood below 20% of GDP in Latvia (14.5%), Lithuania (14.7%), Romania (14.8%), Estonia (15.1%), Bulgaria and Slovakia (both 18.5%), Malta and Poland (both 19.0%), the Czech Republic (19.7%) and Hungary (19.9%). These disparities reflect differences in living standards, but are also indicative of the diversity of national social protection systems and of the demographic, economic, social and institutional structures specific to each Member State.
Σχετικές Αναρτήσεις
- Eurostat/General government expenditure in the EU in 2014/57/2016 – 22 March 2016
- International Labour Organization (2014) “World Social Protection Report 2014/15, Building Economic Recovery, Inclusive Development & Social Justice“, International Labour Office Geneva, 03 Ιουνίου.