€1.3bn spent on social security protection
● 5.5% increase from 2012
In 2013, social protection outlay amounted to €1,390.4 million, an increase of 5.4% when compared to 2012. Since 2008, the National Statistics Office has published an annual publication entitled Social Protection: Malta and the EU: 2014.
Gross social protection expenditure (Gross ESSPROS).
The ESSPROS core system collects data on the expenditure on social protection benefits made by public and private bodies to individuals and households, without any deduction of taxes and other obligatory levies payable on social benefits by beneficiaries. This expenditure is therefore considered as gross. Social protection data are compiled in line with the ESSPROS framework.
A brief time series on gross social protection outlay is provided in Table 1. In 2013, the total gross social protection outlay was €1,390.4 million, reflecting a €71.5 million rise over 2012.
The highest increases were registered in Hospitals and Other Health Care (€34.2 million), Social Security Contributory Benefits (€20.0 million) and Social Security Non-Contribu- tory Benefits (€11.9 million). Only four of the nineteen social schemes registered a decline in expenditure, with Treasury Pensions recording the largest decrease of €2.6 million.
Net social protection expenditure (Net ESSPROS)
For the first time the National Statistics Office is publishing data on net ESSPROS. The net social protection data considers the taxes and social contributions that are paid by the recipients of benefits. These taxes and social contributions have the effect of reducing the gross expenditure of General Government on social protection and rationalising the extent to which social benefits increase recipients’ disposable income. The aim of this module is to collect information that measures the impact of the fiscal system on gross social expenditure, in order to obtain net social protection outlay that is considered to be more comparable among countries.
The total net social outlay in 2013 amounted to €1,362.3 million, resulting in tax revenue of €28.1 million. This is €1.9 million more in this revenue stream over 2012. Only four schemes are subject to tax, with the highest revenue obtained through the Social Security Contributory Benefits scheme being that of €22.1 million.