7% increase in government’s expenditure on social security benefits

According to the latest information released by the National Statistics Office, NSO, government's expenditure on social security benefits amounted to €390.4 million during the first six months of 2012.

The figure is up by €25.4 million when compared to the same period last year. NSO said this was mainly due to contributory benefits, amounting to €19.1 million.

Concurrently, non-contributory benefits went up by €6.3 million.

The increase in contributory benefits was essentially the result of a €13.2 million increase in pensions in respect of retirement, which amounted to €183.4 million for the first six months of 2012.

Pensions in respect of invalidity decreased during the period under review by €1.2 million. Pensions in respect of widowhood increased by €1.3 million, while the contributory bonus added €5.5 million.

Non-contributory benefits rose by €6.3 million over the comparative period in 2011. This was mainly attributed to higher expenditure on Children's Allowance ( €3.2 million) and Social Assistance ( €1.7 million). All other benefits under the Non-Contributory scheme registered modest increases.

Expenditure on social security benefits during the second quarter amounted to €183.6 million, an increase of €8.3 million compared to the June quarter of 2011. This rise was brought about by an increase of €6.6 million in contributory benefits and €1.7 million in non-contributory benefits.

The increase in contributory benefits was driven up by the additional outlay of €6.7 million in the two-thirds pension. The increase in the non-contributory benefits was mainly due to a rise of €0.9 million in social assistance.