Compared to the EU, Poland spends little on welfare
00:57
Last year, the amount of social spending in relation to gross domestic product increased in all European Union member states. This does not necessarily mean, however, that countries spend more on this goal. This state of affairs is largely due to the fact that the GDP of countries has decreased due to the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Eurostat.
Among the EU countries for which Eurostat has data available, the share of social expenditure in GDP is the highest in France. The French spend over a third (36 percent) of the value of their domestic product for this purpose. Austria and Italy are in second and third place. These countries spend 34 and 33 percent, respectively, of their GDP for social purposes.
On the opposite side of the list are three countries from our region, i.e. Central and Eastern Europe, and Ireland. The latter allocates 15 percent of GDP to social support. Lithuania, Latvia, and Hungary, in turn, spend 18 percent each for this purpose. Out of 20 countries that reported their spending data to Eurostat, we were in 12th place in 2020 (22 percent of GDP).
