In 2023, government expenditure reached 112.4 billion euros, corresponding to 42.3% of GDP, minus 1.8 percentage points (p.p.), compared to 2022. The expenditure in percentage of GDP was lower than the average for all countries in the Euro area (7.7 p.p.).

Compared to 2022, government expenditure increased by 5.5 billion euro in nominal terms (rate of change of 5.2%). Social benefits were the most relevant economic item, representing 41.2% of total expenditure. Compensation of employees and intermediate consumption weighed 24.7% and 12.5%, respectively.

Using the classification of functions of government, in 2022, the last year for which this information is available, the structure of government expenditure was focused on the social protection function (39.7%), followed by the health function and the general public services function, which includes interest payments, with 16.2% and 13.0%, respectively.