The European Union's 27 Member States spent EUR 50.7 billion of government expenditure on recreation and sport in 2018. 

In Romania, the recreation and sport expenditure per inhabitant was only EUR 30 in 2018, a figure that placed the country second to last in the EU, according to data from Eurostat, quoted by Agerpres. Bulgaria ranked last, with only EUR 11, while Slovakia (EUR 31), Lithuania (EUR 35), and Croatia (EUR 39) spent slightly more per inhabitant than Romania.

At the opposite end, recreation and sport government expenditure per inhabitant was above EUR 200 in six EU Member States in 2018: Luxembourg (EUR 500 per inhabitant), Sweden (EUR 254), Finland (EUR 226), France (EUR 204), the Netherlands (EUR 202), and Denmark (EUR 201).

When it comes to the share of government recreation and sport expenditure in total expenditure, Hungary tops the ranking with a share of 2.1%, while Bulgaria, Ireland, and Malta are in the last places. Romania's share of total expenditure is similar to the EU average - 0.8%.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Andrey Popov/Dreamstime.com)