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Expenditure of General Government Sector by Function: 2022

NR 016/2024
Release Date: 29 January 2024

Social protection remained the core function of government expenditure in 2022, representing 25.6 per cent of total General Government expenditure, followed by expenditure on Economic affairs and Health.
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This news release presents data on the Classification of Functions of Government (COFOG), which is a commonly used methodology to examine the structure of government expenditure.

In 2022, total General Government expenditure increased by €287.7 million over 2021, amounting to €6,866.2 million. Social protection was the primary expenditure function amounting to €1,759.5 million, an increase of €110.2 million over 2021 with the main increase reported in social benefits (€100.7 million).

A total of €1,550.8 million was spent on Economic affairs, an increase of €113.3 million over 2021. The expenditure on energy support initiatives, intended to lessen the effects of the energy crisis, stood at €312.2 million, while a further €105.2 million was spent on government measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, €144.7 million was directed towards initiatives supporting the restructuring of the national airline. These three government measures were recorded as subsidies.

Total outlay on Health stood at €966.1 million, a decline of €31.9 million, mainly as a result of lower expenditure on public health when compared to the previous year. This was followed by expenditure on Education and General Public Services, which amounted to €872.9 million and €839.9 million, respectively. The increase in Education expenditure was mainly on account of higher compensation of employees (€19.8 million), gross capital formation (€10.5 million) and intermediate consumption (€9.5 million) (Tables 1 and 4).

In 2022, the highest share of General Government expenditure was spent on Social protection, which accounted for 25.6 per cent of the total outlay, registering an increase of 0.6 percentage points over 2021. This was followed by Economic affairs (22.6 per cent), Health (14.1 per cent), Education (12.7 per cent) and General Public Services (12.3 per cent). Defence accounted for the lowest share of total expenditure, followed by Housing and community amenities, amounting to 1.2 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively (Table 2).

Chart 1. General Government expenditure by function: 2018-2022

in € thousands

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Chart 2: General Government expenditure by function as a % of total expenditure

Similar to previous years, when considering the components of General Government expenditure by function for 2022, a considerable share of government outlay was in the form of Wages and salaries (26.7 per cent), Social benefits in cash or in kind (21.7 per cent), Intermediate consumption (19.5 per cent) and Subsidies (12.2 per cent) (Table 4).

Table 5 provides a detailed breakdown of General Government expenditure by examining the second level function of the COFOG classification. The largest share of government expenditure was spent on Old age (€1,081.7 million), which represents 15.8 per cent of total General Government expenditure. This was followed by expenditure on Hospital services, which amounted to €563.2 million, or 58.3 per cent of expenditure on Health. Furthermore, a considerable share of General Government outlay was spent on Executive and legislative organs, financial, fiscal and external affairs (€481.3 million), followed by a total of €451.6 million and €428.7 million on General economic, commercial and labour affairs, and Fuel and energy, respectively (Table 5).

Tables

Tables

Table 1. General Government expenditure by function  

Table 2. General Government expenditure by function as a percentage of total expenditure 

Table 3. General Government expenditure by function as a percentage of GDP 

Table 4. Components of General Government expenditure by function 

Table 5. General Government expenditure by second level function 

All Tables

Methodological Notes

1. All data in this news release are in line with the European System of Accounts (ESA) 2010 Manual (ISBN 978-92-79-31242-7) and the COFOG classifications as published in the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 (ISBN 978-1-49834-376-3). These methodologies are mandatory for all EU Member States.
 
2. Member States are requested to transmit the data in this news release twelve months after the end of the reference period.
 
3. Data in this news release provides information about expenditure of the General Government sector divided into the main COFOG (Classification of the Functions of Government) categories and ESA 2010 categories.
 
4. The Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG) classifies government expenditure into ten main categories (divisions known as the ‘COFOG 1st level’ breakdown): general public services; defence; public order and safety; economic affairs; environmental protection; housing and community affairs; health; recreation, culture and religion; education; social protection. These divisions are further broken down into ‘groups’ (COFOG 2nd level).
 
5. Figures may not add up due to rounding.
 
6. All data in this release should be considered as provisional and therefore subject to revision.
 
7. More information relating to this news release may be accessed at:
 

Sources and Methods

 

 

8. A detailed news release calendar is available online.

9. References to this news release are to be cited appropriately. For guidance on access and re-use of data please visit our dedicated webpage.

10. For further assistance send your request through our online request form.

  
 
 

Expenditure of General Government Sector by Function: 2022  

NR 016/2024
Release Date: 29 January 2024

Mockup,Of,Euro,Banknotes,On,Flag,Of,Malta,Background.,Different
  • Social protection remained the core function of government expenditure in 2022, representing 25.6 per cent of total General Government expenditure, followed by expenditure on Economic affairs and Health.
  • In 2022, total General Government expenditure increased by €287.7 million over 2021, amounting to €6,866.2 million. When expressed as a percentage of GDP, the expenditure in 2022 was 39.3 per cent, down from 42.9 in 2021.
  • The three main expenditure categories in 2022 were compensation of employees (26.7 per cent), social benefits in cash or in kind (21.7 per cent) and intermediate consumption (19.5 per cent).
  • In 2022, the largest contribution of government expenditure went to Old age (€1,081.7 million), Hospital services (€563.2 million) and Executive and legislative organs, financial, fiscal and external affairs (€481.3 million).

Expenditure of General Government Sector by Function: 2022

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