Expenditure on social protection benefits reached an estimated €5.18 trillion across the European Union in 2025, a 4.9% increase on the previous year, new data from Eurostat has revealed.
Social protection benefits accounted for 27.5% of EU GDP in 2025, down 0.2 percentage points from the previous year.
Social protection benefits expenditure as a percentage of GDP was highest in Austria, where it accounted for close to a third (32.4%) of GDP. This was followed by Finland (32.2%), and France (32.1%).
At the other end of the scale, Ireland (11.7%), Malta (13.8%) and Hungary (16.7%) boasted the lowest share of social protection benefits expenditure as a percentage of GDP.
Spend by category
Old-age benefits represented the largest category of social protection spending, accounting for €2.15 trillion, or 41.5% of the total. Sickness and healthcare benefits accounted for the second-largest category, at €1.56 trillion, or 30%.
Other areas of expenditure included disability, survivors’ benefits, family and children, unemployment, housing and social exclusion.
Increased spend
In euro terms, spending increased in every EU Member State during 2025. Croatia recorded the largest annual increase, at 15.4%, followed by Bulgaria (+12.1%) and Lithuania (+11.6%),
The smallest increases were reported in Greece (+0.6%), Romania (+0.7%) and Finland (+1.3%).
Eurostat said the figures are based on early estimates of social protection expenditure recently published under the European System of Integrated Social Protection Statistics (ESSPROS). Read more here.
