In 2024, receipts from all social protection schemes (excluding transfers between schemes) were €79,514 million, with contributions from general government being the main source of receipts, accounting for 42.5% of the total, followed by employers' social contributions (30.9%). Social contributions from protected persons accounted for 16.6% of total receipts of social protection schemes.
In 2024, expenditures across all social protection schemes (excluding transfers between schemes) were €72,236 million, with social benefits accounting for 92.9% of the total. In terms of risk coverage, old age and sickness protection functions accounted for more than 75% of the total benefits granted, with 47.8% and 28.0%, respectively.
Expenditures on pensions reached €37,677 million in 2024, representing 56.1% of the total value of social benefits granted by social protection schemes and reflecting a less marked increase in nominal terms than that observed for social benefits in general. Old age pensions remain the most significant category, accounting for 78.5% of the total value of pensions.
In 2024, there were 2,942 pension beneficiaries, 2.4% less than the number recorded 10 years earlier, because of a decline in the number of disability pension beneficiaries. The number of survivors' pension beneficiaries remained relatively stable, whilst the number of old age pension beneficiaries increased by 3.7%.
A comparison with the European Union for 2023 highlights the larger contribution of pensions to social protection expenditures in Portugal (excluding transfers between schemes): 53.6% compared with 44.2% in the European Union. In terms of their share to the total, expenditures in Portugal fall short of that of the European Union especially in benefits associated with housing, unemployment and family.
