Government expenditure on public order and safety is also higher than average among several other countries in the region, the data show. In 2015, the ratio of such government expenditure in proportion to GDP was highest in Bulgaria (2.8%), Slovakia (2.4%), Romania (2.3%), Croatia and Poland (both 2.2%).

At the opposite end of the scale, Denmark and Luxembourg (both 1.0%), Ireland (1.1%), Malta and Finland (1.2%), Sweden (1.3%) and Austria (1.4%) spent less than 1.5% of their GDP on public order and safety.

In 2015, the EU 28 Member States reported over €258 billion of government expenditure on public order and safety, a figure equivalent to 1.8% of the EUʼs GDP, said Eurostat.

By comparison, this is higher than the amount spent on other major activities such as defense (1.4%), recreation, culture and religion (1.0%), or environmental protection (0.8%).

General government expenditure on public order and safety comprises mainly expenditure on police services, fire protection services, law courts and prisons, noted the EU stats office.

Spending per inhabitant shows different picture

In terms of spending on public order and safety per inhabitant, the ranking is quite different when the amounts spent are graded according to the size of the population of each Member State.

On average in 2015, expenditure on public order and safety amounted to €507 per inhabitant in the EU.

Member States that spent above €500 per inhabitant included Luxembourg (€899), the United Kingdom (€792), the Netherlands (€724), Belgium (€644), Ireland (€598), Sweden (€594), Germany (€581), Austria (€545), France (€535) and Italy (€506).

At the opposite end of the scale, spending stood below €250 per inhabitant in Latvia (€248), Poland (€247), Croatia (€231), Hungary (€230), Lithuania (€204), Romania (€183) and Bulgaria (€173).

In absolute terms, Hungarian news agency MTI notes that the countryʼs spending on public order and safety reached €2.26 billion in 2015, accounting for 4.1% of total government expenditures.

Source: BBJ

Republished with permission