Social protection expenditure and its financing 

Social protection expenditure is mainly comprised of

  • pensions
  • health insurance 
  • unemployment security and
  • public health and social services covered by tax revenue.

Private insurance policies, fees paid by healthcare and social welfare clients and deductibles in health insurance are not included in social protection expenditure.

Social protection expenditure in Finland was (at current prices)

  • EUR 77.8 billion in 2021
  • EUR 80.0 billion in 2022
  • EUR 86.7 billion in 2023.

In 2023, social protection expenditure was around  31.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). This was 1.6 percentage points higher than in 2022.

The GDP share of social protection expenditure in Finland is slightly above the EU average. The per capita social protection expenditure adjusted by purchasing power parity (PPP) is also higher than the EU average. 

Financing expenditure 

In Finland, social protection is financed as follows (in 2023):

  • employers pay 30.1 per cent
  • the insured pay 14.6 per cent
  • the State pays 45.4 per cent
  • municipalities pay 4.2 per cent

The remaining about 5.6 per cent is covered by proceeds from the social security funds.

Statistics on social expenditure in Finland are produced by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. More information about statistics: