France turns out to be the most generous EU nation when it comes to welfare spending.
New data from Eurostat has revealed that in France 34.3% of the country’s GDP went to social protection in 2014.
This was against an average of 28.7% for all EU states, a percentage which has remained stable since 2011.
Other generous nations scoring above average were Denmark (33.5%), Finland (32%) and the Netherlands (31%).
Portugal was no slouch in these matters. The 27% of GDP it spent on social welfare was just shy of the EU average and, indeed, only a shade lower than the 27.4% provided by the UK.
The money spent in Portugal covered a range of social needs, with more than half spent helping pensioners. A spend of 57.5% of GDP was for old age and survivor pensions and other benefits and services.
This was the fourth greatest percentage in the EU after Greece, Poland and Italy.
Health care including sickness and disability benefits accounted for 31% while allowances for families and children claimed 4.6% and unemployment benefits 5.8%.
Social assistance with housing or social exclusion was lower than average, just barely achieving 1% of all social spending.
Social provision spending in Portugal varied for each year between 2011 and 2014, but never significantly with the difference not greater than 1.8%.
The overall spending in Portugal in 2014 trailed just behind the UK, making the country number 11 for the greatest percentage of GDP spent on welfare.
Greece and Spain had just slightly lower percentage spending.
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