Cyprus ranked last in government expenditure on health in 2015 and 8th in the EU28 in education-related government expenditure, according to an infographic published by Eurostat.
When it came to health, Cyprus’ government spending stood at 2.6 per cent of GDP, last in the EU, and less than half the bloc’s average of 7.2 per cent of its GDP.
This translated into €532 per person per year, leaving Cyprus close to last – Latvia clocked in at €468 – in the per capita category, and around only a quarter of the EU average of €2,076 per inhabitant.
In 2015, nearly €1,058 billion of general government expenditure was spent by EU member states on health. The figure is equivalent to 7.2 per cent of the EU’s GDP. Health is the second largest item of public expenditure, after social protection at 19.2 per cent.
Cyprus’ government spending on health stood at 2.6 per cent, followed by Latvia at 3.8 per cent, Romania 4.2 per cent, Greece 4.5 per cent, Luxembourg 4.6 per cent and Poland 4.7 per cent. By contrast, in Denmark spending on health stood at 8.6 per cent, France 8.2 per cent, while Austria and the Netherlands both spent 8 per cent.
The member states that spent above €3,000 per inhabitant were Luxembourg €4,112, Denmark €4,094, the Netherlands €3,194, Sweden €3,170, Austria €3,149, Ireland €3,138 and the United Kingdom €3,020.
At the opposite end of the scale with Cyprus, spending stood below €600 per inhabitant in Romania at €340, Bulgaria €343, Latvia €468, Poland €520, Cyprus €532 and Hungary €592.
When it came to education, according to the findings, in 2015 over €716 billion of general government expenditure was spent by member states on education.
This figure is equivalent to almost 5 per cent of the EU’s GDP. Education is the fourth largest item of public expenditure, after social protection 19.2 per cent, health 7.2 per cent and general public services such as external affairs and public debt transactions, 6.2 per cent.
In 2015, overall, 18 of the 28 member states recorded a ratio of 5 per cent or more. Cyprus stood in eighth place at around 5.8 per cent, following Denmark 7.0 per cent, Sweden 6.5 per cent, Belgium 6.4 per cent, Finland 6.2 per cent, Estonia 6.1 per cent, and Latvia and Portugal both 6.0 per cent.
At the lower end were Romania at 3.1 per cent, Ireland 3.7 per cent, Bulgaria and Italy both at 4 per cent, Spain at 4.1 per cent, Germany and Slovakia both at 4.2 per cent, and Greece 4.3 per cent.
