In 2021 social protection expenditure rose by €120 million from the €2,601.3 million reported in 2020, according to national data.

The National Statistics Office said on Monday that as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product, social protection in 2021 amounted to 18.1 per cent.

This reflected a drop of 1.6 percentage points over the previous year, following higher GDP growth during the same period.

Higher social outlay was reported for 13 of Malta’s 19 schemes: the largest increase was witnessed under hospitals and healthcare facilities at €69.0 million.

This was followed by social security contributory benefits (€50.7 million) and sickness days – employers’ expenditure (€29.4 million).

From the remaining six schemes, the highest decline was recorded under the COVID-19 Support Measures (€64.1 million).