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 protection expenditure.

Social protection expenditure in Finland was (at 2017 prices)

• 67.9 billion euros in 2015
• 69.3 billion euros in 2016
• 69.1 billion euros in 2017

In 2017, social protection expenditure was 30.9 per cent in relation to GDP. This is one percentage point less than in 2016. 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 (2017):

• employers pay 32.0 %
• insured pay 13.8 %
• the state pays 26.8 %
• municipalities pay 22.1 %

The remaining 5% 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)

• Finances in the health and social services sector (The National Institute for Health and Welfare THL)

Finland's social protection expenditure for the years 2015 - 2017

• Excel versions of statistics and charts over social expenditure in Finland 2015 - 2017

Social protection expenditure by function and per capita 2015–2017 at 2017 prices, € million 

	2015	2016	2017
Sickness and health	15 785	15 481	15 300
Disability	6 835	6 721	6 484
Old age	26 604	27 753	28 807
Survivors	1 813	1 802	1 833
Family and children	6 762	6 750	6 654
Unemployment	5 622	5 629	4 921
Housing	1 466	1 656	1 842
Other social protection	1 869	2 392	2 072
Administration	1 165	1 155	1 176
Total	67 922	69 341	69 089
Per capita	12 378	12 599	12 532
Social protection expenditure in relation to GDP, %	32,0	31,9	30,9
Source: National Institute for Health and Welfare

 

Distribution of social expenditure by target group, %

	2015	2016	2017
Sickness and health	28,2%	22,3%	22,1%
Disability	10,1%	9,7%	9,4%
Old age	39,2%	40,0%	41,7%
Survivors	2,7%	2,6%	2,7%
Family and children	10,0%	9,7%	9,6%
Unemployment	8,3%	8,1%	7,1%
Housing	2,2%	2,4%	2,7%
Other social protection	2,8%	3,4%	3,0%
Administration	1,7%	1,7%	1,7%
Total	100,0%	100,0%	100,0%

 

Financing of social protection expenditure, current prices, 2015–2017, %

	2015	2016	2017
State	26,0	26,2	26,8
Munincipalities	21,9	21,7	22,1
Employers	34,0	33,8	32,0
Insured	13,1	13,3	13,8
Other	5,0	5,0	5,2
Total	100,0	100,0	100,0