EU, 27% of GDP on social welfare - Which European countries spend the most on this sector?
All European Union countries increased social welfare spending in 2024, with an expansion of almost 7%, bringing the total budget to almost 5 billion euros.
Compared to their GDP, average spending on social benefits amounted to around 27% across the bloc, but rates vary from country to country.
According to Eurostat data, Finland, France and Austria are the most “generous” EU members, each spending around 32% of GDP on social benefits.
Ireland, on the other hand, ranks last with just 12%, less than non-EU countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina (20%) and Serbia (18%). Experts explain the reasons behind this, including the country's demographics. Irish society is still relatively young compared to other economies, so spending on pensions, long-term care and healthcare is lower. However, Ireland is not the smallest spender on all social benefits: it ranks second in the EU for social housing costs, proportionally to GDP.
Overall, the largest share of the EU's social budget goes to pensions, worth €2 trillion. Spending on illness and healthcare comes in second at almost €1.5 trillion, followed by measures for families and children at €0.4 trillion and support for people with disabilities (€0.3 trillion).
In terms of pensions, the top three countries are Austria (14.7%), Italy (14.6%) and Finland (14.5%). When it comes to healthcare, Germany invests the most (9.9%), followed by France and the Netherlands (9.5%).
Finland also ranks first in housing support (0.99% of GDP), ahead of Ireland and Germany. In a Eurobarometer survey, the lack of affordable housing emerged as the most “urgent” problem in the EU, highlighted by 40% of respondents.
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