Spending on social protection benefits across the EU rose to €5,183 billion in 2025, up 4.9% on the previous year.
Social protection benefits — including pensions, health-related payments and unemployment support — accounted for 27.5% of the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025, down 0.2 percentage points compared with 2024, Eurostat reported on Friday.
As a share of GDP, spending was highest in Austria (32.4%), Finland (32.2%) and France (32.1%), and lowest in Ireland (11.7%), Malta (13.8%) and Hungary (16.7%).
Old-age benefits were the largest part of the total at €2,152 billion, representing 41.5% of social protection spending, followed by sickness and health care benefits at €1,556 billion, or 30.0%.
Increases recorded in every member state
Social protection benefits expenditure increased in euro terms in all EU countries in 2025 compared with 2024, with the biggest rises in Croatia (up 15.4%), Bulgaria (up 12.1%) and Lithuania (up 11.6%), according to Eurostat.
The smallest increases were recorded in Greece (up 0.6%), Romania (up 0.7%) and Finland (up 1.3%.
The figures are early estimates compiled under the European System of Integrated Social Protection Statistics, a framework used to compare social protection spending across countries.
