By the end of December 2023, €269.5 million went towards Non-Contributory Benefits, an 11.1 per cent increase in comparison to the previous year. All benefit categories registered increases, with the main ones recorded under Child Allowance (€7.3 million), Total Supplementary Allowance (€6.1 million) and Total Social Assistance (€3.7 million) (Table 3).

In comparison to 2022, an additional €20.8 million was spent on social security benefits between October and December 2023, amounting to €327.7 million. Contributory expenditure rose by €18.6 million, with the largest increase registered under Pensions in respect of Retirement (€12.4 million) (Table 4). Furthermore, spending towards Non-Contributory Benefits increased by €2.3 million, with the largest growth recorded under Child Allowance (€3.7 million) (Table 5). 

Social Security Beneficiaries

During 2023, the largest number of Contributory beneficiaries was recorded under the Two-Thirds Pension (59,660). The same benefit reported the highest increase among recipients, with 1,728 additional pensioners when compared to 2022. On the other hand, the biggest drop in recipients was registered under Sickness Benefit (5,693) (Table 2).

The Additional COLA Household Mechanism reported the highest number of Non-Contributory recipients, with 95,579 beneficiaries by the end of 2023. The same benefit also recorded the largest increase in recipients at 54,801, while the largest decline in recipients was witnessed under Supplementary Allowance (521) (Table 3).

In the final quarter of 2023, the Two-Thirds Pension (57,710) and Additional COLA Household Mechanism (92,109) were the most received Contributory and Non-Contributory Benefits, respectively (Tables 4 and 5).