Expenditure on other social benefits
Changes in expenditure since 2010
Since 2010, the expenditure on cash benefits has been at a constant level in the Nordic countries, except in Denmark, where there has been an increase throughout the period.
The expenditure on other social benefits in kind has been at a constant level in most of the Nordic countries since 2010, except for Iceland, where the expenditure has been increasing through most of the period.
There are also some singular spikes in expenditure in Sweden, Finland, and Norway, mainly due to an increase in the number of refugees and people seeking asylum in both countries in 2016.
Source of financing
The data on expenditure also includes sources of financing. The financing of social expenditure comes from several sources such as public authorities, employers, employees, and others.
Most of the expenditure on other social benefits is financed by public authorities, and as such there has been an increase in all countries since 2010, especially in Denmark, but also in spikes in 2016 in Sweden and Finland.
The available data show that for countries with data for 2020, there is no indication of increase in public financing in 2020. There has been an increase in financing in Iceland, but this is more of a continuation since 2018 than a singular incident.
Compared to the financing by public authorities, the level of financing by employers is low in the Nordic countries. The data show a continuous increase in Iceland until 2013, whereafter the level is identical to other Nordic countries.
The level in Sweden is less than 1 PPS per capita throughout the period.
Social expenditure on other social benefits
Because the expenditure on other social benefits covers a very diverse area of social policy, it can be difficult to compare across countries.
In all Nordic countries the level of expenditure on both cash benefits and benefits in kind is at an almost identical level.
In the Nordic countries the level of expenditure on other social benefits tends to be below one percent of GDP, with occasional exceptions. One exception is Denmark, where the level has been above one percent since 2010. Another exception is Sweden and Finland in 2016, where the expenditure increased temporarily due to an increase in the number of refugees and asylum seekers.