In 2022, €58.4 billion was spent on social protection in Ireland, a small reduction on the 2021 spend of €59.1 billion.
The largest areas of expenditure were in sickness/healthcare (€25.3 billion) and old age (€15.9 billion); together they accounted for 73% of the total spend.
Expenditure on unemployment dropped significantly in 2022 by €3.6 billion to €2.5 billion, reflecting a return to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels and the cessation of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment in 2022.
Ireland spent €11,143 per person on social protection in 2022.
In 2022, Irish expenditure per person on the sickness and healthcare function is the second highest in the European Union at €4,582.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (20 December 2023) published the Social Protection Expenditure in Ireland 2022 release.
Commenting on the release, 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.
Main Results
Social protection expenditure was €58.4 billion in 2022, based on preliminary estimates. This represents 12% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or 21% of Modified Gross National Income (GNI*). The €0.8 billion decrease on 2021 is the first such fall in expenditure since 2013. This reflects the reduction in unemployment supports to households related to the COVID-19 pandemic (down €3.6 billion from €6.1 billion in 2021 to €2.5 billion in 2022). However, the decrease in this area was offset by increased expenditure in other functions, for example, sickness/healthcare (+€1.8 billion), family (+€0.5 billion), and disability (+€0.3 billion).
International Comparison
Ireland spent €11,143 per inhabitant in 2022 on social protection. Of those countries that had reported 2022 data at the time of publication, Bulgaria had the lowest per inhabitant expenditure at €2,581 while the highest was in Luxembourg at €25,667. Average expenditure in the European Union on social protection was €9,636 per person in 2022, down 2% on 2021.
Social Protection Schemes
The Public Health Scheme is the largest scheme in terms of expenditure (€22 billion or 38% of the total), followed by the Social Insurance Fund (€12 billion or 21%), Department of Social Protection Voted Expenditure (€11.4 billion or 20%), Government Employment (€5.8 billion or 10%), and Private Occupational Pensions (€4.1 billion or 7%). The remaining two schemes are small in comparison: the housing schemes accounted for €2.2 billion, or 4% of expenditure, while the spend on the Child Protection scheme was €899 million, or 1.5% of expenditure.“