Government spending towards Contributory Benefits amounted to €732.1 million, a 9.5 per cent increase from the previous year. Pensions in respect of Retirement recorded the largest increase of €42.2 million, the result of a €53.8 million rise in Two-Thirds Pension outlay. Further increases were registered under Pensions in respect of Widowhood (€14.1 million), Contributory Bonus (€4.9 million), Other Benefits (€1.3 million), Deficiency Contributory Bonus (€0.7 million) and Pensions in respect of Invalidity (€0.2 million) (Table 2).

Non-Contributory spending reached €214.0 million by the close of June 2026, representing a 13.2 per cent increase in comparison to the previous year. The largest rise was registered under Child Allowance (€9.0 million), following the new payments of the Grant to Families with Children in Years 10 and 11 (€4.2 million), and ahead of the Additional Cost of Living Adjustment (€4.5 million) and Assistance to Help the Elderly Live Independently (€4.3 million). In contrast, marginal drops were recorded under both Total Social Assistance (€0.2 million) and Medical Assistance (€0.1 million) (Table 3).

Social Security Beneficiaries

Between January and June 2026, the number of Two-Thirds pensioners totalled 64,537, 4,031 additional beneficiaries compared to 2025. This growth represented the largest increase reported among Contributory Benefits. Conversely, the biggest drop was registered under Increased National Minimum Pension (1,636) (Table 2).

The highest number of Non-Contributory beneficiaries was reported under the Additional Cost of Living Adjustment (101,270). This was 4,133 more households than the previous year, the largest increase between the Non-Contributory Benefits. On the other hand, the biggest drop in recipients was registered under the In-Work Benefit (1,078) (Table 3).