Expenditure on social benefits by function, type of benefit and in United Kingdom

United Kingdom: Expenditure on social benefits by function, type of benefit and was 617,697 in 2018. β–² Rising

Latest (2018)
617,697
Change on year
up 0.2%
World rank
3rd
of 35 countries
All-time high
716,115
in 2015
All-time low
167,878
in 1990
Years of data
29
1990–2018

Expenditure on social benefits by function, type of benefit and in United Kingdom, 1990–2018

200.0k400.0k600.0k800.0k1990200420181990: 167.9k1991: 204.0k1992: 218.3k1993: 225.0k1994: 236.5k1995: 230.9k1996: 248.2k1997: 305.0k1998: 324.0k1999: 343.7k2000: 403.6k2001: 419.9k2002: 421.4k2003: 448.1k2004: 485.3k2005: 522.8k2006: 553.2k2007: 537.4k2008: 492.0k2009: 477.8k2010: 519.9k2011: 539.6k2012: 597.1k2013: 580.6k2014: 623.0k2015: 716.1k2016: 624.6k2017: 616.3k2018: 617.7k

Source: Eurostat.

Analysis

United Kingdom recorded 617,697 for expenditure on social benefits by function, type of benefit and in 2018.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.2% on the previous year and up 25.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, expenditure on social benefits by function, type of benefit and in United Kingdom peaked at 716,115 in 2015 and was at its lowest, 167,878, in 1990.

United Kingdom ranks 3rd of 35 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 29 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 250,346 167,878 343,683 10
2000s 476,145 403,552 553,194 10
2010s 603,868 519,854 716,115 9

Countries ranked near United Kingdom

  1. 1 Germany 1.21 million compare
  2. 2 France 889,479 compare
  3. 4 Italy 597,937 compare
  4. 5 Spain 401,818 compare
  5. 6 Netherlands 271,229 compare

See the full ranking of 45 places β†’

More reference data data for United Kingdom

All data for United Kingdom β†’

Frequently asked questions

What is expenditure on social benefits by function, type of benefit and in United Kingdom?
Expenditure on social benefits by function, type of benefit and in United Kingdom was 617,697 in 2018, according to Eurostat.
What is the highest expenditure on social benefits by function, type of benefit and recorded in United Kingdom?
The highest recorded value was 716,115 in 2015.
What is the lowest expenditure on social benefits by function, type of benefit and recorded in United Kingdom?
The lowest recorded value was 167,878 in 1990.
How does United Kingdom rank for expenditure on social benefits by function, type of benefit and?
United Kingdom ranks 3rd out of 35 countries with data for 2018.
Is expenditure on social benefits by function, type of benefit and rising or falling in United Kingdom?
Over the last ten years it is up 25.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this United Kingdom data come from?
The figures come from Eurostat, published as part of Expenditure on social benefits by function, type of benefit and means-testing. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV Β· JSON β€” 29 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Eurostat).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Expenditure on social benefits by function, type of benefit and in United Kingdom. Statizoid, drawing on Eurostat. Retrieved 20 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/expenditure-on-social-benefits-by-function-type-of-benefit-and-means-testing/united-kingdom/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Eurostat); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/expenditure-on-social-benefits-by-function-type-of-benefit-and-means-testing/united-kingdom/">Expenditure on social benefits by function, type of benefit and in United Kingdom</a> β€” Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Expenditure on social benefits by function, type of benefit and means-testing
Source
Eurostat
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Eurostat)
Coverage
45 places, 1,186 data points, 1990–2024
Last refreshed