Total expenditures for social protection increased by SEK 63.7 billion, or about 5.5 percent in 2015. The corresponding increase between 2013 and 2014 was 2.6 percent.

As a share of GDP, expenditure for social protection has varied from year to year. In the whole period, the percentage fell from 36.1 percent in 1993 to 29.3 percent in 2015. Between 1993 and 2000, the share decreased steadily, and in 2000 it amounted to 28.3 percent. In the 2000s, the proportion varied between 27.4 percent (in 2007) and 30.4 percent (in 2003).

Expenditure on elderly was the largest expenditure item

The largest expenditure item was the elderly, which amounted to 42 percent of social benefits in 2015. The second largest expenditure item was health and medical care, with 26 percent of total social benefits. This is followed by expenditure on disability and family/children, which constitutes 12 and 10 percent of total social benefits respectively.

Expenditure on the elderly increased by SEK 24.7 billion in current prices, an increase of 5.2 percent between 2014 and 2015. The increase is significantly higher than between 2013 and 2014, when the brake in the retirement system meant that many pensioners received lower income- and supplementary pension. The increased costs are nearly the same as in 2012 and 2013. Old age pension, which is the largest item of expenditure on old age, increased by 5.2 percent in 2015. Benefits in kind, such as accommodation and personal assistance, also increased.

Expenditure on health and medical care increased by SEK 18.2 billion, or about 6.1 percent. The expenditures for paid sick leave account for the largest increase, about 12.4 percent. The sickness benefit paid for by the Social Insurance Agency increased by 13.9 percent compared with 2014 and sick pay from employers increased by 12.2 percent.

Expenditure on unemployment increased by SEK 0.3 billion in 2015 compared with 2014, an increase of 0.7 percent. The payment of unemployment benefits decreased by SEK 1.0 billion, while the cost of introduction benefit for newly arrived people in Sweden increased by SEK 0.8 billion. Vocational training and job placement and counselling also decreased, by SEK 0.7 billion and SEK 0.5 billion respectively.

Social exclusion only accounts for about 3 percent of the total expenditure for social protection, but was the function that increased the most in percentage terms between 2014 and 2015, when it increased by 33.5 percent (SEK 10.0 billion). The cost increase is largely explained by higher costs for asylum accommodation, which was due to a very large increase in the number of asylum seekers at the end of 2015.

Expenditure on disability increased by SEK 3.8 billion in 2015 compared with 2014, an increase of 2.8 percent. The disability pension decreased by 2.9 percent, while accommodation and personal assistance increased by 4.0 percent and 6.0 percent respectively.

Expenditure on family and children increased by 4.0 percent, while expenditure on housing increased by 1.8 percent between 2014 and 2015.

This data are also available in a database on Eurostat’s website under: Population and social conditions - Social protection.

Eurostat