Government expenditure on social protection accounted for the greatest share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in all EU countries except Cyprus where bank recapitalisation accounted for most government expenditure, 18.8% of GDP.
The function 'social protection' was by far the most important, accounting for 25.4% of GDP in Finland, 24.8% in France, and 24.5% in Denmark. In Austria, Italy, Sweden, Greece and Slovakia social protection accounted for one fifth of GDP.
According to Eurostat, expenditure for social protection in Croatia accounted for 15.7% of GDP. A similar share was recorded in Hungary (16.1%) and Great Britain (16.5%).
Romania and the Baltic member states Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia each spent less than 12% of GDP on social protection, Eurostat reported.
In almost all EU states the share of social protection expenditure related to old age, with the highest share recorded in Greece (15.3%), followed by Italy (14%), France (13.7%) and Austria (13.2%). In Croatia the share of old age care was 6.7%, followed by health and disability allowances, accounting for 5.0% of GDP.