Government spending towards Contributory Benefits amounted to €872.8 million, a 10.3 per cent rise from 2023. Pensions in respect of Retirement recorded the largest increase of €51.9 million, as the number of Two-Thirds pensioners rose by 2,159 individuals. Further increases were registered under Contributory Bonus (€16.3 million), Pensions in respect of Widowhood (€11.6 million), Other Benefits (€1.7 million) and Deficiency Contributory Bonus (€0.9 million). Conversely, Pensions in respect of Invalidity fell by €0.9 million (Table 2).

By the end of September 2024, Non-Contributory spending amounted to €228.7 million, a 20.7 per cent increase in comparison to the previous year. The rise was largely attributed to an €18.0 million increase in Child Allowance payments, coupled with a €13.1 million increase reported under the Additional Cost of Living Adjustment. The former includes the initial payments of the Special Allowance for Post-Secondary Students (€5.8 million), payable to parents whose children maintain their education status beyond the mandatory age (Table 3).

During the third quarter of 2024, Social Security Benefits spending reached €329.2 million, reflecting a €29.3 million rise from the previous year. Greater outlays were reported under both Contributory (€25.1 million) and Non-Contributory Benefits (€4.1 million). Pensions in respect of Retirement registered the largest increase of €16.1 million under Contributory Benefits (Table 4), while the biggest rise in Non-Contributory outlay was recorded by Child Allowance (€4.5 million) (Table 5).

Social Security Beneficiaries

During the first nine months of 2024, Two-Thirds pensioners totalled 60,982 that was 2,159 more beneficiaries than the corresponding period in 2023. This was the highest increase exhibited among recipients of Contributory Benefits, while, conversely, the biggest drop was registered under National Minimum Widows’ Pension (264) (Table 2).

The highest number of Non-Contributory beneficiaries was reported under the Additional Cost of Living Adjustment (98,769), the largest reported increase (87,599) in Non-Contributory Benefits. Furthermore, there were 44,640 families in receipt of Children’s Allowance, 622 more than the previous year. The biggest decline in recipients was witnessed under Supplementary Allowance (575) (Table 3).

In the third quarter, the Two-Thirds Pension (57,216) and Children’s Allowance (42,751) were the most received Contributory and Non-Contributory Benefits, respectively (Tables 4 and 5).