Total expenditure on social security benefits increased by Lm12.2 million (€28.5 million) last year, 5.2 per cent more than in 2006, to reach Lm245.7 million (€572.3 million), the National Statistics Office said yesterday.

Last year, the outlay on social security benefits made up 10.6 per cent of the GDP at current market prices.

According to the NSO, the pensions in respect of retirement, which is the main component of contributory benefits, increased by Lm9 million (€21.1 million), due to an additional outlay of Lm7.6 million (€17.8 million) in the two-thirds pensions.

This increase was brought about by a net increase in the number of beneficiaries. The outlay on retirement pensions increased by Lm1.2 million (€2.8 million). The pensions in respect of widowhood also added Lm1.5 million (€3.4 million), mainly on account of the survivors' pension which accounted for Lm1 million (€2.4 million) of this increase.

The NSO said that last year, non-contributory benefits increased by Lm1.2 million (€2.7 million), or two per cent over the previous year. Within this category, social assistance increased by Lm0.9 million (€2.1 million) which was in part offset by a decline in children's allowance of Lm0.8 million (€1.9 million).

Expenditure on social security benefits in the last quarter of 2007 registered an increase of Lm2.7 million (€6.4 million), or 4.6 per cent. This was essentially brought about by an additional outlay of Lm1.6 million (€3.8 million) in the two-thirds pension.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.