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Expenditure of General Government Sector by Function: 2023

NR 241/2024
Release Date: 17 December 2024

Social protection remained the core function of government expenditure in 2023, representing 27.0 per cent of total General Government expenditure, followed by expenditure on Economic affairs and General Public Services.
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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 2023, total General Government expenditure increased by €611.7 million over 2022, amounting to €7,501.4 million. Social protection was the primary expenditure function amounting to €2,025.8 million, an increase of €235.7 million over 2022 with the main increase reported in social benefits (€89.1 million).

A total of €1,393.0 million was spent on Economic affairs, a decrease of €141.5 million over 2022. The expenditure on energy support initiatives, intended to lessen the effects of the energy crisis, stood at €270.4 million, while a further €134.1 million was directed towards initiatives supporting the restructuring of the national airline. These two government measures were recorded as subsidies.

Total outlay on General public services stood at €1,095.8 million, which was followed by expenditure on Health and Education, which amounted to €1,057.4 million and €863.4 million, respectively. The increase in Health expenditure was mainly on account of higher gross capital formation (€27.3 million), compensation of employees (€23.8 million) and social benefits in cash and in kind (€16.5 million) (Tables 1 and 4).

In 2023, the highest share of General Government expenditure was spent on Social protection, which accounted for 27.0 per cent of the total outlay, registering an increase of 1.0 percentage point over 2022. This was followed by Economic affairs (18.6 per cent), General public services (14.6 per cent), Health (14.1 per cent) and Education (11.5 per cent). Defence accounted for the lowest share of total expenditure, followed by Housing and community amenities, amounting 1.2 and 2.2 per cent, respectively (Table 2).

Chart 1. General Government expenditure by function: 2019-2023

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 2023, a considerable share of government outlay was in the form of Wages and salaries (25.9 per cent), Social benefits in cash or in kind (22.1 per cent), Intermediate consumption (19.7 per cent) and Subsidies (9.8 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 (€1,231.1 million), which represents 16.4 per cent of total General Government expenditure. This was followed by expenditure on Executive and legislative organs, financial, fiscal and external affairs, which amounted to €619.3 million, or 56.5 per cent of expenditure on General Public Services. Furthermore, a considerable share of General Government outlay was spent on Hospital services (€570.4 million), followed by a total of €407.3 million and €353.7 million on Fuel and energy, and Transport, 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. The main revisions implemented during the September 2024 benchmark revision that impacted the compilation of the government expenditure by function were:

– Reallocation of the R&D expenditure: 
The R&D expenditure previously grouped under the R&D Education group has been reallocated to the appropriate socio-economic purpose within the different COFOG divisions.

– Reclassification of the payments made to Government by residents of state-financed residential homes:
Residents of state-financed residential homes have up to 60 per cent (for Level 1 – basic care) or 80 per cent (for advanced care) of their pension withheld to cover their stay. Previously, these government receipts were recorded as negative D621 (Social security benefits in cash) in the Old Age group, meaning pensions were recorded on a net basis. The methodological improvement involves reclassifying these receipts from D621 to the revenue code P131 (Payments for other non-market output). 

6. Figures may not add up due to rounding.
 
7. All data in this release should be considered as provisional and therefore subject to revision.
 
8. More information relating to this news release may be accessed at:
 

Sources and Methods 
Metadata 
Statistical Database 

9. A detailed news release calendar is available online.

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

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

  
 
 

Expenditure of General Government Sector by Function: 2023  

NR 241/2024
Release Date: 17 December 2024

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  • Social protection remained the core function of government expenditure in 2023, representing 27.0 per cent of total General Government expenditure, followed by expenditure on Economic affairs and General public services.
  • In 2023, total General Government expenditure increased by €611.7 million over 2021, amounting to €7,501.4 million. When expressed as a percentage of GDP, the expenditure in 2023 was 36.5 per cent, down from 37.7 in 2022.
  • The three main expenditure categories in 2023 were compensation of employees (25.9 per cent), social benefits in cash or in kind (22.1 per cent) and intermediate consumption (19.7 per cent).
  • In 2023, the largest contribution of government expenditure went to Old age (€1,231.1 million), Executive and legislative organs, financial, fiscal and external affairs (€619.3 million) and Hospital services (€570.4 million).

Expenditure of General Government Sector by Function: 2023

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