Social Expenditure Ratio Slightly Higher in 1999. Strong Growth in Spending on Invalidity, Health and Family

After stabilising in the years after 1995, the Austrian social expenditure ratio went up again, albeit slightly, in 1999. As reported by the European System of Integrated Social Protection Statistics (ESSPROS) used by the EU, Austria spent ATS 781 billion (€ 56.8 million) on social security in 1999, which translated into a growth of 4.9 percent over the previous year, whereas nominal GDP rose by just 3.5 percent. In terms of GDP, the social expenditure ratio, at 28.9 percent, thus was 0.4 percentage points higher than in 1998. Almost half of the social expenditure (47.6 percent) was spent on old age and survivors' pensions; 26.2 percent went to health spending, whereas expenditure on families, at 10.4 percent, was the third-largest segment in social expenditure. Another 8.8 percent was paid out as invalidity pensions to people below the age of 60. The remaining 5.5 percent were expenditures on active and passive labour market policies, rounded off by 1.6 percent in other expenditures. In comparison with the previous year an above-average growth was found for expenditure on families (7.7 percent), health (6.4 percent) and invalidity (6.1 percent). The increase was even more substantial for the "other expenditures" item (20.3 percent). These include social assistance paid by the states, benefits in kind rendered at local government level, housing assistance and other benefits to prevent marginalisation. The growth shown by old-age and survivors pensions and unemployment was less pronounced than the overall rise in expenditure on social security. In a European comparison, the Austrian social expenditure ratio of 1998 (social expenditure for 1999 reported in line with the ESSPROS system is not yet available for the EU), is 0.8 percentage points above the EU-15 average of 27.7 percent. In Sweden, France, Denmark and Germany, the ratio was higher than in Austria. Broken down by function groups, deviations from the EU average were found for old age and survivors' pensions and in children and family benefits. In each of these sectors, Austria spends 1.4 percentage points more, whereas its expenditure on unemployment, housing and efforts to prevent social marginalisation is lower than the EU-15 average.