In 2021, €59.1 billion was spent on social protection in Ireland, similar to the high level of spending in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The largest areas of expenditure were in sickness/healthcare (€23.6 billion) and old age (€15.9 billion); together they accounted for 69% of the total spend.
Expenditure on unemployment dropped in 2021 by €1.2 billion to €6.1 billion.
Ireland spent €11,348 per person on social protection in 2021.
Social protection in Ireland is predominantly financed by Government funding (63%), followed by employers’ social contributions (24%).
The largest social protection scheme in Ireland is the Public Health scheme which accounts for €21 billion (35.5%) of social protection expenditure.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
Commenting, Ciara O’Shea, Statistician in the Government Accounts Compilation and Outputs Division, said: “Social protection is a set of interventions where the objective is to reduce social and economic risk and vulnerability, and to alleviate extreme poverty and deprivation. Social protection is typically grouped into eight categories: sickness/healthcare; disability; old age; survivors; family/children; unemployment; housing and social exclusion. This publication brings together data from a variety of sources to estimate this expenditure in Ireland from 2000 to 2021.
Main Results
Social protection expenditure was €59.1 billion in 2021, based on preliminary estimates. This represents 14% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or 25% of Modified Gross National Income (GNI*). The €1.2 billion increase on 2020, reflects the continued support to households during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in 2021 the main increases were in the areas of sickness/healthcare (+€1.6 billion) and old age (+€682 million) while spending on unemployment supports reduced (-€1.2 billion).
International Comparison
Ireland spent €11,348 per inhabitant in 2021 on social protection. Of those countries that had reported 2021 data at the time of publication, Bulgaria had the lowest per inhabitant expenditure at €1,888 while the highest was in Luxembourg at €24,278. Average expenditure in the European Union on social protection was €9,105 per person in 2020, up 8% on 2019.
Social Protection Schemes
In Ireland, social protection receipts and expenditure is organised into seven schemes: -
The Public Health Scheme is the largest scheme in terms of expenditure (€21 billion or 35.5% of the total), followed by the Social Insurance Fund (€14.9 billion or 25.2%), DSP Voted Expenditure (€10.4 billion or 17.6%), Government Employment (€4.9bn or 8.4%) and Private Occupational Pensions (€4.9 billion or 8.3%). The remaining two schemes are small in comparison: the housing schemes accounted for €2.1 billion or 3.6% of expenditure while the spend on the Child Protection scheme was €842 million or 1.4% of expenditure.“