SOCIAL PROTECTION ACCOUNT 2017 (A)

Expenditure on social protection in the Basque Country grew a 2.7 in 2017

Expenditure per inhabitant stood at 8,204 euros, 2.5% more than in 2016, and as a percentage of GDP was the 24.2

Expenditure on social protection in the Basque country in 2017 grew by over 2% in both absolute terms and per capita, according to Eustat data and following the European System of Integrated Social Protection Statistics (ESSPROS). Specifically, in absolute values it increased by 473 million compared to 2016 that is by 2.7%, and the expenditure per capita was 2.5% higher. In relation to GDP, expenditure on social protection accounted for 24.2% in 2017.

Excluding administration costs, the value of social provisions stood at 17,608 million euros in 2017, which was an increase of 2.8% compared to 2016.

The detailed analysis of expenditure looks at the breakdown by function of social provisions on the basis of the data from 2016, the last year with definitive data.

The distribution of expenditure by function was the same as in previous years. The functions with the greatest weight were Old Age and Illness/Healthcare, which jointly accounted for 69.2% of expenditure on provisions. These are also the functions with the highest growth in 2016: Old Age grew by 4.4%, standing at 7,406 million euros and Illness/Healthcare grew by 3.0%, reaching 4,447 million euros.

Expenditure on Social Exclusion was also one of the functions with the most growth, 3.1% in 2016; although it continued to be one of those with the least weight, as it only accounted for 3.3% of total expenditure on provisions.

The Housing function, which includes programmes aimed at promoting and managing rental properties and assistance with rental payments, was the function with the least weight, 0.9% of total expenditure on provisions. In 2016 it saw growth of 10.0%, standing at 150 million.

The Family/Children function accounted for 3.5% of expenditure on provisions in 2016. In accordance with the latest 2016 edition of the ESSPROS Manual and user guidelines, the amount corresponding to expenditure on infant education, which is included in this function, has been reestimated (expenditure on education is not included within the scope of ESSPROSS, which only includes the proportion representing social, not educational, care). 602 million euros was spent on Family/Children in 2016, 1.0% less than in the previous year, which is linked to the reduction in the number of pupils in infant education.

The function that registered the largest decrease was Unemployment, with a negative rate of 12.9%, expenditure standing at 1,081 million, 160 million less than in 2015. In 2010 expenditure on this function accounted for 10.7% of total expenditure on provisions, whereas in 2016 this figure was 6.3%.

The Unemployment function also declined a 7.5 in 2017 and this was reflected in both the decrease in unemployment benefits, which in 2017 fell by 10.0% (14.5% and 17.5% in the two previous years) as to the registered unemployment, which from 2014 to 2017 posted negative rates: -2.1% in 2014 and -8.6% in 2017.

With regard to the institutional units that spend money on social protection, spending by the Social Security System and State Administrations accounted for 60.2% of total expenditure in 2016; 1.9% up on 2015.

Expenditure by the Basque Administrations accounted for 32.6%, reaching 5,676 million euros in 2016, 3.0% more than in 2015. Within the group Basque Administrations there is the public system of social benefits created by the Basque Government, that includes Lanbide, Regional Councils and Local Administrations, which increased their expenditure by 4.0%, going from 2,053 million in 2015 to 2,136 million in 2016. The highest increase was in expenditure related to Disability and Old Age, which includes expenditure on residential services, home care, special employment centres and economic provisions relating to dependence. On the other hand, expenditure in the public health system, included within Basque Administrations, rose by 2.3%, going from 3,460 million in 2015 to 3,540 million in 2016.

For the comparison with Europe, we analysed the latest data published by Eustat, corresponding to 2016. One of the indicators is expenditure on social protection per inhabitant, measured in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP); in the Basque Country it stood at 8,682, above the EU (8,232) and countries such as Spain (6,349), Ireland (7,238) and the United Kingdom (7,842). At the very top of the table are Luxembourg (14,469) and Austria (11,095).

Another of the indicators is social protection expenditure as a percentage of GDP, which in the Basque Country stood at 24.4% in 2016, below the European Union average (28.1%) and above Spain (24.3%) and also above Luxembourg (22.0%), which in expenditure per capita was at the very top of the table.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62