Social protection spending increasing in Turkey

ANKARA

Contributions from the Turkish government, employers and private individuals for social protection increased by more than 13 percent last year compared with 2013, according to a report from the Turkish Statistical Institute released on Thursday.

Expenditures on social protection were at 249.4 billion Turkish liras ($84.7 billion) in 2014, an increase of 13.1 percent compared with 219.9 billion Turkish liras ($74.7 billion) in 2013, the report said.

The two main sources of funding were general government contributions from taxes (41.5 percent) and employers’ social contributions (26.4 percent), while 26.2 percent was paid by people already benefiting from social protection programs, the report said.

The largest expenditure on social protection benefits was for older citizens, with 116.9 billion Turkish lira ($39.4 billion) followed by those related to the sickness/health care function with 73.3 billion Turkish lira ($24.9 billion). The lowest expenditure was for social benefits related to exclusion at 3.2 billion Turkish lira ($1.1 billion).

Turkey spent 14.3 percent of its GDP on social protection in 2014, up from 11.4 percent in 2013, the report said.

The average expenditure of the 28 EU countries on social protection in 2013 stood at 19.6 percent of their total GDP, according to figures from Eurostat.

ANKARA

Turkey spent 14.3 percent of its GDP on social protection in 2014, up from 11.4 percent in 2013, the report said.

The average expenditure of the 28 EU countries on social protection in 2013 stood at 19.6 percent of their total GDP, according to figures from Eurostat.