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Social protection expenditure

Social protection expenditure mainly comprises

  • pensions
  • health insurance and
  • unemployment security spending, as well as
  • social and healthcare costs covered by tax reserves.

Private insurance, social and health care patient and client fees or personal liability in health insurance are not calculated in social expenditure.

Social protection expenditure in Finland was

  • 65.7 billion euros in 2014
  • 67.4 billion euros in 2015
  • 69.1 billion euros in 2016

In 2016, social protection expenditure was 32.0 per cent in relation to GDP. This is in the same level as in 2015. The GDP share of social protection expenditure in Finland is above the EU average. The per capita social protection expenditure adjusted by purchasing power parity is also higher than the EU average.

Financing expenditure 

Social protection in Finland is financed as follows (2016):

  • employers pay 34.4 %
  • insured pay 13.3 %
  • the state pays 26.5 %
  • municipalities pay 20.8 %

The remaining 6% is covered by return of social protection funds.

In Finland, statistics on social protection expenditure are produced by The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL)

Finland's social protection expenditure for the years 2014-2016

Social protection expenditure by function and per capita 2014–2016 at 2016 prices, € 

 
  2014 2015 2016
Sickness and health 15 446 15 742 15 460
Disability 6 982 6 777 6 741
Old age 24 876 26 411 27 693
Survivors 1 806 1 760 1 789
Family and children 6 560 6 642 6 632
Unemployment 5 257 5 581 5 588
Housing 1 242 1 455 1644
Other social protection 1 848 1 855 2 374
Administration 1 639 1 157 1 147
Total 65 656 67 379 69 058
Per capita 11 999 12 279 12 548
Social protection expenditrure in relation to GDP, & 31,9 32,0 32,0
Source: National Institute for Health and Welfare      

 

Distribution of social expenditure by target group, %

  2014 2015 2016
Sickness and health 23,5% 23,4% 22,4%
Disability 10,6% 10,1% 9,8%
Old age 37,9% 39,2% 40,1%
Survivors 2,8% 2,6% 2,6%
Family and children 10,0% 9,9% 9,6%
Unemployment 8,0% 8,3% 8,1%
Housing 1,9% 2,2% 2,4%
Other social protection 2,8% 2,8% 3,4%
Administration 2,5% 1,7% 1,7%
Total 100,0% 100,0% 100,0%

 

Financing of social protection expenditure, current prices, 2014–2016, %

  2014 2015 2016
State 27,7 26,0 26,1
Munincipalities 19,5 21,9 21,8
Employers 34,7 34,0 33,8
Insured 13,0 13,1 13,3
Other 5,1 5,0 5,0
Total 100,0 100,0 100,0

 

Further information

Antti Väisänen, Ministerial Adviser 
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Johdon tuki- yksikkö / JOT, Arviointiryhmä / ARVI 0295163044