Abstract

The article compares the sustainability of public spending for a group of European countries through two indicators: public spending / GDP and public spending / inhabitant. The article mainly compares the second indicator through an action to correct the number of inhabitants for each public spending service. For example, the expenditure per education / inhabitant refers only to school-age population. This method allows more precise comparisons in particular for those public services conditioned by the level of population aging. Finally, the article focuses on the centres responsible for Italian public spending (state, health, local authorities, pensions, etc.) for the main cost items (personnel, purchases, transfers, interest expenses).