Eurostat: Total government expenditure amounted to 40% of GDP

In 2019, total government expenditure in the EU amounted to 46.6% of gross domestic product, 40% in Cyprus and 47.5% in Greece. For the EU this share remained unchanged from the previous year, however it has steadily decreased from its latest peak in 2009 (50.7% of GDP), according to data released today by Eurostat, the statistical service of the EU.

Among the main functions of general government expenditure in the EU, ‘social protection’ was by far the most important in 2019, equivalent to 19.3% of GDP (19.8% in Greece and 12.4% in Cyprus.

The next most important areas were ‘health’ (7.0% in the EU, 5.3% in Greece and 4.0% in Cyprus), ‘general public services’ (5.8% in the EU, 7.9% in Greece and 7.5% in Cyprus,) such external affairs and public debt transactions, ‘education’ (4.7% in the EU, 4.0% in Greece and 5.4% in Cyprus) and ‘economic affairs’ (4.4% in the EU, 4.0% in Greece and 4.6% in Cyprus).

The functions ‘public order and safety’ (1.7% in the EU, 2.1% in Greece and 1.7% in Cyprus), ‘defence’ (1.2% in the EU, 2.0% in Greece and 1.8% in Cyprus), ‘recreation, culture and religion’ (1.2%, 0.8% in Greece and 0.9% in Cyprus),‘environmental protection’ (0.8% in the EU, 1.4% in Greece and 0.3% in Cyprus) and ‘housing and community amenities’ (0.6% in the EU 0.2% in Greece and 0.6% in Cyprus) had more limited weights.

Social protection represented the most important area of general government expenditure in 2019 in all EU Member States.

The ratio of government social protection expenditure to GDP varied across EU Member States from less than 10% in Ireland (8.9%) to nearly a quarter in Finland (24.0%) and France (23.9%). In Cyprus this rate was 12.4% and in Greece 19.8%.

Five EU Member States – Finland, France, Denmark, Italy and Austria – devoted at least 20% of GDP to social protection, while Ireland, Malta, Bulgaria and Romania each spent less than 12% of GDP on social protection.

In 2019, Austria (8.3%), Denmark (8.2%) and France (8.0%) recorded the highest ratios to GDP devoted to health among EU Member States.

The highest ratios to GDP of government expenditure on general public services were observed in Hungary (8.2%), Greece and Finland (both 7.9%).

For education, the highest shares were registered in Sweden (6.9%), Denmark (6.3%), Belgium (6.2%) and Estonia (6.0%). The highest share of government expenditure on economic affairs in 2019 was recorded in Croatia (8.2% of GDP) and Hungary (8.0%).