Which Countries are EU Contributors and Beneficiaries?

The question of which countries are paying more in EU contributions than they are getting out is a contentious issue for some and was also one major factor in the Brexit vote in the UK.

In the 2021 budget, there were nine EU members contributing more than they got out of the EU (down from ten when the UK was still a member), at least in terms of direct monetary contributions. Germany tops the ranking, putting in 25.6 billion euros more than it gets out, followed by France with net contributions of 12.4 billion euros. The UK previously came in second place in the ranking, with roughly 10 billion euros of net contributions in 2018.

Poland was the biggest monetary benefactor from the EU, coming out with 11.9 billion euros earned, far ahead of Greece (4.3 billion euros) and Hungary (4.1 billion euros).

But being on top of this list doesn’t have to send a country scrambling to leave the political union. In Germany, for example, support for the EU is high. While budget contributions might outweigh direct financial benefits for the country, a study by the Bertelsmann foundation suggests that the single EU market increased the average incomes of Germans by over 1,000 euros, above the EU average increase of 840 euros.