Cyprus social protection spending rises to €6.59bn, equal to 18.07 per cent of GDP

Cyprus’ social protection expenditure rose by approximately 5.1 per cent year-on-year to an estimated €6.59 billion in 2025, up from €6.28 billion in 2024, while spending remained broadly unchanged as a share of the economy, according to preliminary figures published by Eurostat. However, social protection benefits accounted for 18.07 per cent of Cyprus’ gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025, only marginally higher than the 18.05 per cent recorded in 2024. The figures place Cyprus well below the EU average, where social protection benefits represented 27.49 per cent of GDP in 2025, compared with 27.29 per cent in 2024. Across the bloc, total expenditure on social protection benefits reached an estimated €5.18 trillion, representing a 4.9 per cent increase on 2024. Despite the rise in spending, the EU-wide share of GDP allocated to social protection edged down by 0.2 percentage points in Eurostat’s headline assessment, to 27.5 per cent. The difference between the EU-wide figures and the more detailed table reflects rounding, with the latter putting the 2025 share at 27.49 per cent, compared with 27.29 per cent in 2024. Cyprus’ expenditure as a share of GDP was also below Greece’s, where social protection benefits accounted for 21.99 per cent of GDP in 2025, down from 22.94 per cent in 2024. In monetary terms, Greek expenditure increased only slightly, from €54.31 billion in 2024 to €54.61 billion in 2025, a rise of around 0.6 per cent. Cyprus therefore recorded a faster increase in the total amount spent than either Greece or the EU as a whole, although its expenditure remained a considerably smaller proportion of national economic output than the European average. The figures measure expenditure on social benefits across several areas, rather than government spending on social protection in a narrower sense. Across the EU, the largest share went towards old-age benefits, which amounted to €2.15 trillion, or 41.5 per cent of the total in 2025. A further €1.56 trillion was spent on sickness and healthcare benefits, representing 30 per cent of all social protection expenditure. Other categories covered disability benefits, survivors’ benefits, family and children’s support, unemployment benefits, housing assistance and social exclusion not classified elsewhere. The overall EU figures indicate that old age and healthcare together accounted for more than seven tenths of social protection benefits expenditure. As a share of GDP, the highest levels of social protection expenditure in 2025 were recorded in Austria, at 32.4 per cent, followed by Finland at 32.2 per cent and France at 32.1 per cent. At the other end of the scale, Ireland recorded the lowest share, at 11.7 per cent, followed by Malta at 13.8 per cent and Hungary at 16.7 per cent. In absolute terms, expenditure on social protection benefits increased in every EU member state in 2025. The largest year-on-year rises were recorded in Croatia, where spending increased by 15.4 per cent, followed by Bulgaria at 12.1 per cent and Lithuania at 11.6 per cent. The smallest increases were registered in Greece, at 0.6 per cent, Romania, at 0.7 per cent, and Finland, at 1.3 per cent. Finally, it should be noted that Eurostat’s 2025 figures are estimates, while some of the 2024 figures are provisional, meaning that the latest comparisons may be subject to revision.