Expenditures on social protection and health care were highest in France (10 percent of GDP), Germany (9.7), Slovenia (8.6), Austria (8.5), and Belgium (7.8 percent), while the lowest were in Bulgaria (4.2 percent), Ireland (4.6), Hungary, Lithuania (4.7), and Estonia (4.8).
In almost all EU countries, health care spending decreased from 2021 to 2022. The largest drop was recorded in Bulgaria (-1.1 pp), followed by Hungary (-0.9 pp), Lithuania and Ireland (-0.8 pp).
The only EU countries that reported an increase in these expenditures are Luxembourg (0.3 percentage points) and Slovenia (0.1), the Eurostat analysis notes.
