During the first nine months of 2017 Social Security Benefits outlay rose by €34.7 million, The NSO said today.
Social Security Benefits expenditure totalled €703.2 million by the end of September 2017, a 5.2 per cent hike in comparison to the same nine-month period in 2016. A €34.6 million increase in Contributory Benefits outlay was the catalyst for the abovementioned rise in Social Security Benefits expenditure.
Contributory Benefits outlay amounted to €561.7 million, 6.6 per cent higher than 2016. A €19.6 million rise in Pensions in respect of Retirement, due to a significant increase in Two-Thirds Pension recipients, along with a €15.8 million increase in Pensions in respect of Widowhood, following double payments in July, were the main contributors to the positive growth in Contributory Benefits outlay. A further increase was recorded under Contributory Bonus (€2.8 million). The rise in Contributory outlay was slightly offset by declines in
Pensions in respect of Invalidity (€2.6 million), Other Benefits (€1.0 million) and Benefit in respect of Industrial Injuries and Gratuities (€0.1 million).
The first three quarters of 2017 witnessed a €141.5 million expenditure on Non-Contributory Benefits, in line with the same period in 2016. The biggest change was reported under Social Assistance where outlay decreased by €5.2 million from 2016 following a drop in beneficiaries, while other decreases in expenditure were registered under Child Allowance (€1.0 million) and Non-Contributory Bonus (€ 0.2 million) . Conversely, increases in outlay were recorded under Old Age Pension (€1.9 million), Disability Pension/Allowance (€1.6 million), Medical Assistance (€1.4 million), Supplementary Assistance (€1.1 million) and In-Work Benefit (€0.4 million).
In the third quarter of 2017 Government outlay on Social Security Benefits totalled €223.4 million, a drop of €22.0 million from the corresponding quarter in 2016. The reason behind the decrease was a €18.8 million decline in Contributory expenditure, caused by a double payment being made in August 2016 to Retirement Pensioners. Additionally, Non-Contributory expenditure decreased from €48.3 million in 2016 to €45.2 million in 2017. A €5.4 million dip in Social Assistance outlay, again the result of a double payment made in August 2016, was the reason for the decline in Non-Contributory spending.
Two-Thirds Pension recipients formed the largest share of Contributory beneficiaries, continuing a longstanding trend, with 47,207 persons in receipt of a Two-Thirds Pension by the end of September 2017.
Furthermore, the Two-Thirds Pension registered the largest rise in beneficiaries with 2,450 more recipients than the corresponding period in 2016. On the other hand, the Unemployment Benefit reported the greatest decline in recipients with 447 less individuals.
After the first nine months of 2017, the majority of Non-Contributory recipients consisted of Children's
Allowance (42,769), followed by Supplementary Assistance (24,720). The In-Work Benefit recorded the largest rise in beneficiaries with 1,292 more recipients while the biggest drop in recipients was reported by the Unemployment Assistance (1,581).
It was the same situation quarter-wise with Two-Thirds pensioners forming the largest share of Contributory beneficiaries with 46,260 recipients while the biggest cohort of Non-Contributory recipients consisted of Children's Allowance beneficiaries (41,026)
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