Public spending on social protection. How does Romania compare to other European Union countries?

The latest data from 2023 on total public administration expenditure on social protection shows that Romania allocated only 12.8% of GDP to this expenditure. Among EU member states, this GDP ratio was highest in Finland (25.7%), followed by France (23.4%), Austria (21.4%), Luxembourg (20.2%), and Belgium (20.1%). At the other end of the scale, social protection expenditure accounted for only 12.3% in Hungary, 9.7% in Malta, and the lowest ratio was recorded in Ireland, at 8.1% of GDP.

Public spending on social protection reflects the government's primary function of redistributing income and mandatory payments to vulnerable populations. It includes nine types of expenditure, including pensions, sickness and disability benefits, unemployment benefits, child allowances, family allowances, social housing, social assistance, etc.

In the European Union, social protection expenditure remained at a relatively high level in 2023 due to government measures aimed at mitigating the impact of rising energy prices. For Romania, the ratio of social protection to GDP is expected to continue to decline in 2025 as a result of the end of energy subsidies for the population, but also as a result of measures to reduce the budget deficit.

Of the total public expenditure on social protection, there are two categories in which Romania performs poorly: unemployment benefits and social housing.

Romania allocates only 0.2% of total social protection expenditure to unemployment benefits, ranking last in the EU, alongside Poland (0.82%) and Malta (0.87%). The highest budget allocations for unemployment benefits are recorded in Spain (6.22%), followed by France (5.64%), Lithuania (5.24%), and Finland (5%).

Social benefits for housing place our country in third-to-last place in the European Union, with a budget allocation of only 0.04% of total social protection expenditure, alongside Bulgaria (0%) and Croatia (0.01%). Poland (0.12%), Slovenia (0.15%), and Slovakia (0.18%) are close behind in percentage terms.

For total social protection expenditure, Romania allocates approximately €1,766 per capita, according to the latest data available from EUROSTAT for 2022. Only Bulgaria (€1,631) ranks below our country, with both countries lagging considerably behind the EU average (€8,212) and the Nordic and Western countries, as follows: Denmark (€15,368), Sweden (€12,253), Finland (€11,414), Germany (€11,341), France (€11,462), the Netherlands (€11,708), and Austria (€11,283).

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Data processing and text design: Delia Bădoi

Infographic: Pascalone Media SRL

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