Zagreb: Social protection spending in the European Union reached €5,183 billion in 2025, up 4.9% on the previous year, according to early estimates that Eurostat published on 6 November 2026. Expenditure on social benefits rose in every member state, and Croatia recorded the fastest increase.
The total equals 27.5% of EU gross domestic product. Reports on the release describe that ratio as slightly lower than in 2024, which suggests that economic output grew at least as fast as benefit payments, although some national tables show small differences caused by rounding.
Pensions dominate the bill. Old-age benefits reached €2,152 billion, or 41.5% of all social protection spending. Sickness and healthcare came second at €1,556 billion, or 30% of the total. Disability, survivors, family and children, unemployment and housing benefits make up the rest.
Croatia led the growth table with a rise of 15.4% in euro terms, followed by Bulgaria at 12.1% and Lithuania at 11.6%. At the other end, Greece added only 0.6%, Romania 0.7% and Finland 1.3%. Italy grew by 3.2%, below the EU average.
Fast growth in Zagreb, Sofia and Vilnius reflects catch-up as much as generosity. These economies start from lower benefit levels, and rising wages, pension indexation and inflation all push nominal payments up quickly. Slow growth in Athens and Bucharest, by contrast, points to tight budgets and, in Greece, a long period of fiscal restraint.
The ranking by economic weight looks very different. Austria spends the most relative to its economy, at 32.4% of GDP, ahead of Finland at 32.2% and France at 32.1%. Ireland spends the least, at 11.7%, although multinational activity inflates its GDP figures. Malta follows at 13.8% and Hungary at 16.7%.
The figures feed two big EU debates. First, ageing populations will keep pushing old-age and health costs upward, and the European Semester already presses governments to keep pension systems sustainable. Second, negotiations on the 2028 to 2034 budget will decide how much EU money supports social inclusion, skills and child poverty measures alongside national social protection spending.
Eurostat compiles these numbers under its ESSPROS methodology, which covers benefits paid by public and private schemes. The data therefore measure social benefits broadly and do not match government social spending in narrower budget statistics.
For Croatia, the jump in social protection spending raises a familiar question. Faster benefit growth eases pressure on pensioners and families, but it also tests public finances as the country moves through the final years of its recovery plan. Similar trade-offs face every capital as social protection spending keeps climbing in absolute terms while its share of the economy holds broadly steady.
