Total Social Protection Expenditure as a percentage of GDP: 24.1%
According to the results of the Social Protection Survey, which is based on the rules set by the European System of Integrated Social Protection Statistics (ESSIS), total social protection expenditure in Cyprus as a percentage of GDP amounted to 24.1% in 2020 compared to 18.0% in 2019 (Figure 1), corresponding to €5.283.4 million in 2020 compared to €4,168.0 million in 2019 (Table 1).
Breakdown of expenditure by social protection function
As shown in Chart 2, the main functions are those of old age and sickness/health care, which together accounted for 63.5% of total social benefits in 2020 (compared to 71.1% in 2019). In old-age benefits (which include both old-age cash benefits, i.e. periodic old-age pensions, periodic cash benefits as well as lump-sum cash benefits, and old-age benefits in kind, such as housing, assistance with daily chores and other benefits), periodic pensions accounted for the largest share, amounting to €1,793.5 million and constituting 90.5% of all old-age benefits. It is worth noting that, €1,702.6 million of the 2020 periodic pensions have been granted to beneficiaries without their income being a criterion (Table 2)
There was an increase in expenditure on the unemployment function in 2020, for which €818.7 million was recorded. (compared to €202.2 million in 2019), as well as for the old age function with €1,980.9 million in 2020 (compared to €1,869.1 million in 2019), the sickness/health care function with €1,310.9 million in 2020 (compared to €1,028.8 million in 2019), the survivors' function with €314.2 million in 2020 (compared to €1,028.8 million in 2019). in 2020 (compared to €298.0 million in 2019), the family function with €273.5 million in 2020 (compared to €236.9 million in 2019), the social exclusion function with €243.6 million in 2020 (compared to €203.2 million in 2019) and the housing function which also showed a slight increase in 2020 with benefits amounting to €79.7 million. (compared to €73.8 million in 2019). In contrast, the disability function saw a slight decrease in benefits in 2020 for which €162.8 million (compared to €165.0 million in 2019) was recorded as shown in Table 3.
Breakdown of benefits by ESCOOP categorisations
The largest share of social benefits in 2020 (88.5%) was provided to beneficiaries without verification of their financial situation. Specifically, for 2020 this percentage amounted to €4,589.3 million (Table 1). In most cases, beneficiaries, having paid contributions to various funds (e.g. the Social Security Fund), secure entitlements to benefits without their income being a criterion. Further, most benefits in 2020 were in cash (€3,818.2 million), with benefits in kind constituting only 26.3% of all Social Protection benefits (€1,366.1 million). As regards cash benefits, 84.6% (€3,231.7 million) were provided periodically (at regular intervals), such as pensions and allowances, while 15.4% of cash benefits consisted of lump-sum payments and tips (Figure 3).
Breakdown of expenditure by programme
The Social Security Programme is the largest provider of social benefits in Cyprus with an expenditure of €1,643.4 million in 2020, representing a 31.1% share of total expenditure. The programme's contribution to Other Public Social Benefits is also significant, with €1,315.9 million or a share of 24.9% of the total. This is followed by the General Health System (GHS) with €657.0 million (12.4%), State Health Services with €526.6 million (10.0%), the Public Employees' Social Security Programme with €496.0 million (9.4%) and Semi-Autonomous Welfare Institutions with €362.3 million (6.9%). Smaller percentages were recorded in the other schemes, calculated according to the expenditure presented in Table 4.
| Table 1 |
[TD]
[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [TD]
[/TD]
[TR] [TR] [TD]
Expenditure by Category
[/TD] [/TD] [TD]
2017
[/TD] [TD]2018
[/TD] [TD]2019
[/TD] [TD]2020
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]€ (mio.)
[/TD] [TD]€ (million)
[/TD] [TD]€ (million)
[/TD] [TD]€ (million)
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]
Total Social Protection Benefits
[/TD] [/TD] [TD]3.640.6
[/TD] [TD]
3,737.3
[/TD] [TD]4,077.1
[/TD] [TD]5.184.3
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]
No Income Criteria
[/TD] [TD]3.092.9
[/TD] [TD]3,188.0
[/TD] [TD]3,551.5
[/TD] [TD]4.589.3
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Benefits in cash
[/TD] [TD]2,419.6
[/TD] [TD]2,454.6
[/TD] [TD]2,518.1
[/TD] [TD]2,518.1
[/TD] [TD]3.305.5
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Periodic
[/TD] [TD]2,139.6
[/TD] [TD]2,193.9
[/TD] [TD]2,257.4
[/TD] [TD]2.819.6
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Non-Recurring
[/TD] [TD]280.0
[/TD] [TD]260.6
[/TD] [TD]260.7
[/TD] [TD]486,0
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]
Benefits in Kind
[/TD] [TD]673,3
[/TD] [TD]733,4
[/TD] [TD]1.033.4
[/TD] [TD]1.283.8
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]With Income Criteria
[/TD] [TD]547.7
[/TD] [TD]549.3
[/TD] [TD]525,6
[/TD] [TD]594.9
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Cash benefits
[/TD] [TD]477.6
[/TD] [TD]477,9
[/TD] [TD]
449.4
[/TD] [TD]512.7
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Periodic
[/TD] [TD]400.1
[/TD] [TD]387,3
[/TD] [TD]383.6
[/TD] [TD]412.1
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Non-Recurring
[/TD] [TD]77.5
[/TD] [TD]90.6
[/TD] [TD]65,7
[/TD] [TD]100.6
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]
Benefits in kind
[/TD] [TD]70.1
[/TD] [TD]71.4
[/TD] [TD]76,2
[/TD] [TD]82.2
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Operating Expenses
[/TD] [TD]47.9
[/TD] [TD]46,6
[/TD] [TD]48.7
[/TD] [TD]49.1
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Other Expenses
[/TD] [TD]36.1
[/TD] [TD]50,9
[/TD] [TD]
42,3
[/TD] [TD]50,0
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]
Total Expenditure
[/TD] [TD]3.724.6
[/TD] [TD]3,834.7
[/TD] [TD]4,168.0
[/TD] [TD]5.283,4
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [/TR]
| Table2 |
[TD]
[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [TD]
[/TD]
[TR] [TD]
Old Age Function Benefits
[/TD] [TD]2017
[/TD] [TD]2018
[/TD] [TD]2019
[/TD] [TD]2020
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]€ (mio.)
[/TD] [TD]€ (million) [/TD] [TD]
€ (million))
[/TD] [TD]€ (million)
[/TD] [TD]€ (million)
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]
Without Income Criteria
[/TD] [TD]1.710.7
[/TD] [TD]1,720.5
[/TD] [TD]1,795.1
[/TD] [TD]1.886,6
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Benefits in cash
[/TD] [TD]1.691,9
[/TD] [TD]1.699,2
[/TD] [TD]1.772.8
[/TD] [TD]1,872.7
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Periodic
[/TD] [TD]1,561.7
[/TD] [TD]1,605.4
[/TD] [TD]1,659.6
[/TD] [TD]1.702.6
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Non-Recurring
[/TD] [TD]130.2
[/TD] [TD]93.8
[/TD] [TD]113.2
[/TD] [TD]170,1
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]
Supplies in Kind
[/TD] [TD]18.9
[/TD] [TD]21.3
[/TD] [TD]22,3
[/TD] [TD]13.9
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]With Income Criteria
[/TD] [TD]52.6
[/TD] [TD]56,6
[/TD] [TD]74.0
[/TD] [TD]94.4
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Cash benefits
[/TD] [TD]52,6
[/TD] [TD]
56.6
[/TD] [TD]74.0
[/TD] [TD]94.4
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Periodic
[/TD] [TD]49,9
[/TD] [TD]53,4
[/TD] [TD]74,0
[/TD] [TD]91,0
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Non-Recurring
[/TD] [TD]2,7
[/TD] [TD]3,2
[/TD] [TD]0,0
[/TD] [TD]3,4
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]
Supplies in Kind
[/TD] [TD]0,0
[/TD] [TD]0,0
[/TD] [TD]
0,0
[/TD] [TD]0,0
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]
Total Benefits
[/TD] [TD]1.763.4
[/TD] [TD]1,777.1
[/TD] [TD]1,869.1
[/TD] [TD]1.980,9
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]
Table 3
[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]
Benefits by Social Protection Function
[/TD] [TD]2017
[/TD] [TD]2018
[/TD] [TD]2019
[/TD] [TD]20
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]€ (mio.)
[/TD] [TD]€ (million)
[/TD] [TD]€ (million)
[/TD] [TD]€ (million)[/TD)
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Sickness / Medical Care
[/TD] [TD]665.6
[/TD] [TD]727.5
[/TD] [TD]1,028.8
[/TD] [TD]1.310.9
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Disability
[/TD] [TD]164.1
[/TD] [TD]155.9
[/TD] [TD]165.0
[/TD] [TD]162.8
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Age
[/TD] [TD]1.763.4
[/TD] [TD]1,777.1
[/TD] [TD]1,869.1
[/TD] [TD]1.980.9
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Survivors
[/TD] [TD]267.6
[/TD] [TD]290.8
[/TD] [TD]298,0
[/TD] [TD]314.2
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Family / Child
[/TD] [TD]242,8
[/TD] [TD]254.3
[/TD] [TD]236.9
[/TD] [TD]273,5
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Unemployment
[/TD] [TD]208.0
[/TD] [TD]219.3
[/TD] [TD]202.2
[/TD] [TD]818,7
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Housing
[/TD] [TD]70.1
[/TD] [TD]69.2
[/TD] [TD]73,8
[/TD] [TD]79.7
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Social Exclusion
[/TD] [TD]259,1
[/TD] [TD]243,2
[/TD] [TD]203,2
[/TD] [TD]243,6
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]
Total Social Protection Benefits
[/TD] [TD]3.640.6
[/TD] [TD]
3,737.3
[/TD] [TD]4,077.1
[/TD] [TD]5.184,3
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TR]
|
Table 4 |
[TD]
[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [TD]
[/TD]
[TR] [TD]
Social Protection Programmes
[/TD] [TD]2017
[/TD] [TD]2018
[/TD] [TD]2019
[/TD] [TD]2020
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]€ (mio.)
[/TD] [TD]€ (million)
[/TD] [TD]€ (million)
[/TD] [TD]€ (million)[/TD)
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Social Security Programme
[/TD] [TD]1,457.1
[/TD] [TD]1,511.9
[/TD] [TD]1,568.6
[/TD] [/TD] [TD]1.643.4
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Social Security for Public Employees
[/TD] [TD]428.5
[/TD] [TD]440,4
[/TD] [TD]464.9
[/TD] [TD]496.0
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]State Health Services
[/TD] [TD]516,2
[/TD] [TD]560.3
[/TD] [TD]627.5
[/TD] [TD]526,6
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Other Public Social Benefits
[/TD] [TD]687.7
[/TD] [TD]709.4
[/TD] [TD]684.0
[/TD] [TD]1.315.9
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Social Protection of Municipalities
[/TD] [TD]13.1
[/TD] [TD]12.7
[/TD] [TD]15,0
[/TD] [TD]17.1
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Semi-Autonomous Welfare Institutions
[/TD] [TD]313,3
[/TD] [TD]291.8
[/TD] [TD]258.1
[/TD] [TD]362,3
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Non-Governmental Organizations
[/TD] [TD]78.4
[/TD] [TD]63.2
[/TD] [TD]75.3
[/TD] [TD]85,6
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Employment Protection
[/TD] [TD]54.2
[/TD] [TD]59.0
[/TD] [TD]55,8
[/TD] [TD]35.6
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Mandatory Employer Benefits
[/TD] [/TD] [TD]105.6
[/TD] [TD]116,3
[/TD] [TD]108.5
[/TD] [TD]63.8
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Housing Protection
[/TD] [TD]70.5
[/TD] [TD]69,6
[/TD] [TD]73.7
[/TD] [TD]80.1
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]General Health System (GHS)
[/TD] [TD]n.a.
[/TD] [TD]n.a.
[/TD] [TD]236.7
[/TD] [TD]657.0
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]
TotalExpenditure
[/TD] [TD]3.724.6
[/TD] [TD]3,834.7
[/TD] [TD]4,168.0
[/TD] [TD]5.283,4
[/TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [/TR]
Methodological information
Identity of the survey
According to the relevant Eurostat manual, 2022 edition, the ESSOP (European System of Integrated Social Protection Statistics) is a harmonised system for the uniform analysis and comparison of social protection benefits between the Member States of the European Union and the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries. Social Protection, as defined by the principles of the ESSPRP, includes all public and private sector interventions aimed at relieving households and individuals from the burden of defined risks or situations of need, on the condition that there is no simultaneous quid pro quo or individual arrangement by the beneficiary, in other words, the beneficiary is not obliged to provide something of equivalent value in return at the same time.
Objectives of the survey
The collection and recording of this data aims at presenting information in the best possible way, based on the uniform rules and principles that characterise the ESSPRF and which are accepted in all Member States. The conduct of the Social Protection Survey by the Statistical Office and the presentation of the results contributes to the drawing of useful conclusions for our country's policy in this area, while the results can be used in the policy-making process, taking into account the situation in other European countries.
Coverage and data collection
The Survey covered nationwide all organisations, services and funds (autonomous and non-autonomous) that offer benefits in one or more of the functions of Social Protection, namely disability, sickness, old age, survivors, family/children, unemployment, housing and social exclusion. Data on Social Protection is collected from administrative sources such as, inter alia, the Annual State Budget, the Annual Reports of selected Ministries, the financial reports of organisations involved in Social Protection (such as Welfare Funds and the Surplus Personnel Fund) and the financial statements of Non-Governmental Organisations. To obtain additional data, the Statistical Office sent questionnaires to Semi-Governmental Organisations, Municipal Authorities, Commercial and Co-operative Banks, Guilds, Insurance Companies and a sample of private enterprises.
Social Protection Programmes in Cyprus
The basic methodology of the ESSPCOP states that the whole of Social Protection in each country consists of various programmes or systems. These programmes are independent sets of rules that provide social benefits and differ in each country, depending on the structure and functioning of the national social security system. The social security system operating in Cyprus has been categorized, depending on the types and specificities of benefits, into eleven (11) schemes as follows:
Social Security Scheme:Includes the social benefits of the Social Insurance Services of the Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance.
Social Insurance for Public Employees:Includes the pension protection provided by the State to public employees in their capacity as employers.
State Health Services: Includes the state's health protection to citizens through the services and benefits provided by state hospitals.
Other Public Social Benefits: Includes public benefits to support the most vulnerable groups of the population, with the aim of relieving them from the burden of needs such as those of disability, old age, family and social exclusion.
Municipal Social Protection:Includes benefits both to their employees, in their capacity as employers, and to their citizens in general.
Semi-Autonomous Welfare Institutions: Includes collective benefits provided by Semi-governmental Organizations to their employees, in their capacity as employers, as well as the overall benefits provided by Welfare Funds to their employees, under the supervision of the State.
Non-Governmental Organizations: This program mainly includes health, disability, old age and family benefits provided by Non-Governmental Organizations to their members and the rest of the population.
Employment Protection: It includes benefits provided by semi-autonomous funds or organisations to support employment and reduce unemployment, under the supervision of the State.
Mandatory Employer to Employee Benefits: Includes health care benefits provided by private sector firms and organizations to their employees.
Housing protection: Includes public housing benefits to meet the needs of specific groups of the population, such as refugees.
General Health Care System (GHS): This programme is an integrated national health care system, which aims to offer equal and lifelong access to treatments in the private and public sector, as well as to provide high quality medical care to insured persons in Cyprus (based on contributions from the beneficiaries concerned).
For more information:
Statistical Service Portal, subject Living Conditions and Social Protection
CYSTAT-DB (Database)
Predefined Tables (Excel)
Publications (Pdf)
Contact
Eleni Haperis. ehaperi@cystat.mof.gov.cy
Georgia Ioannou: Tel.: +35722602144, El. Postal: gioannou@cystat.mof.gov.cy
(MGS/IC)
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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