In a recent Eurostat analysis of EU countries’ government expenditure on fire protection services for the year 2021, Luxembourg stood out with a staggering 387% increase in its investment in this critical sector over the past decade. This hike positions the Grand Duchy at the forefront of European countries taking decisive action to fortify their fire protection mechanisms.
The data revealed that, as of 2021, EU countries’ total expenditure on fire protection services touched €34.1 billion, marking a 2.5% rise from the previous year. When scrutinized against the backdrop of overall government expenses, the spending on fire protection services forms a modest portion, consistently hovering between 0.4 to 0.5% since 2001.
Among the EU nations, Lithuania and Romania took the lead in 2021, dedicating 0.7% of their total expenditure to fire protection services. They were closely trailed by Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Estonia, Greece, and notably, Luxembourg, each channeling 0.6% of their total spending towards this cause.
On the other end of the spectrum, Denmark earmarked the smallest slice of its budget for fire protection at 0.1%, while Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Austria, Portugal, and Slovenia settled at 0.3%.
The ten-year overview from 2011-2021 underscores the heightened emphasis many EU countries have placed on bolstering their fire protection services. While most nations increased their overall and specific outlays for fire protection, Luxembourg’s 387% surge in expenditure has been unparalleled.
Yet, the outlook has not been uniformly optimistic. Cyprus, Denmark, and Croatia curtailed their fire protection budgets in 2021, seeing drops of 20%, 17%, and 14%, respectively, compared to their spending a decade ago.
