Recent findings from Eurostat, the European statistics agency, have unveiled disparities in social protection and healthcare spending among EU member states. In 2022, the average expenditure across the EU nations, measured as a percentage of GDP, was recorded at 8.1%. However, this marked a decline of 0.4 percentage points from the previous year's figures.

Bulgaria, unfortunately, emerged at the bottom of the list in terms of social protection and healthcare spending relative to its GDP, reporting only 4.2% in this area for the same period.

France emerged as the leader among the 24 EU member states surveyed, allocating the highest share of its GDP (10%) toward social protection and health spending.

The data also revealed that the majority of EU nations witnessed a downturn in their healthcare spending during 2022. Notably, Bulgaria experienced the most substantial decrease, with a reduction of 1.1 percentage points in health spending as a share of its GDP. Conversely, only Luxembourg (+0.3 pp) and Slovenia (+0.1 pp) reported an increase in health spending compared to their GDP in 2022.

These findings underscore the existing disparities in healthcare and social protection funding across the EU, with Bulgaria notably lagging behind the regional average. Efforts to address these discrepancies may be imperative to ensure improved access to quality healthcare and social welfare services for Bulgarian citizens.