In 2021, government expenditure reached 101.7 billion euros, corresponding to 48.1% of GDP, minus 1.2 percentage points (p.p.), compared to 2020. The expenditure in percentage of GDP was lower than the average for all countries in the Euro area (-4.3 p.p.).

Compared to 2020, government expenditure increased by 3.0% in nominal terms, reflecting the increase in the expenditure associated with the economic policy measures taken to alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social benefits were the most relevant economic item, representing 40.7% of total expenditure. Compensation of employees and intermediate consumption weighed 24.5% and 12.0%, respectively.

Using the classification of functions of government, in 2020, the last year for which this information is available, the structure of government expenditure was focused on the social protection function (38.2%), followed by the health function and the general public services function, which includes interest payments, with 14.7% and 14.4%, respectively.