In 2022, social protection sickness and healthcare expenditure, measured as a percentage of GDP, stood at 8.1% at EU level, reflecting 0.4 percentage points (pp) decrease compared with 2021 (8.5%).
Among the 24 EU countries for which 2022 estimates are available, social protection sickness and healthcare expenditure was highest in France (10.0% of GDP), Germany (9.7%), Slovenia (8.6%), Austria (8.5%) and Belgium (7.8%), while it was lowest in Bulgaria (4.2%), Ireland (4.6%), Hungary, Lithuania (both 4.7%) and Estonia (4.8%).
Almost all EU countries recorded a decrease in social protection sickness and healthcare expenditure between 2021 and 2022. The largest decrease in sickness and healthcare expenditure was recorded in Bulgaria (-1.1 pp), followed by Hungary (-0.9 pp), Lithuania and Ireland (both -0.8 pp). The only EU countries to report an increase were Luxembourg (+0.3 pp) and Slovenia (+0.1 pp). Cyprus maintained its expenditure at the 2021 level.