Off the wire
• Chicago agricultural commodities close mixed  • New York City beefs up holiday markets security following Germany attack  • Survey shows British businesses want barrier-free access to EU after Brexit  • Netflix's Twitter account hacked by OurMine  • British wage growth strong, but prospects dim for 2017  • Germany's benchmark DAX index closed up  • British gov't borrowing in 11 pct annual fall  • Gold down slightly on stronger U.S. data  • UN chief urges DRC to de-escalate tensions for elections  • Chapecoense make fourth new signing  
You are here: 　 Home

EU spends 28.7 pct of GDP on social protection

Xinhua, December 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

The European Union (EU) spent 28.7 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on social protection in 2014, up from 28.3 percent in 2011, official data showed Wednesday.

In 2014, the two main sources of funding of social protection at EU level were general government contributions from taxes, making up 40 percent of total receipts, and social contributions at 54 percent, according to figures from Eurostat, the EU statistical agency.

The EU average continued to mask major disparities between member states. In 2014, social protection expenditure represented at least 30 percent of GDP in seven countries, with highest ratios emerging in France and Denmark. In contrast, the reading stood below 20 percent of GDP in ten member states, mostly in eastern Europe.

These disparities reflected differences in living standards, but were also indicative of the diversity of national social protection systems and of the demographic, economic, social and institutional structures specific to each member state, said Eurostat.

On average in the EU, old age and survivors benefits accounted for 45.9 percent of total social benefits in 2014, and were the major part of social protection benefits in nearly all member states, the agency noted. Endit