Revealed: Eurovision budgets are getting smaller

It’s a rumour that’s been around nearly as long as the competition itself: countries don’t actually want to win the Eurovision Song Contest, because it’s too expensive to host.

Whether that’s actually true, of course, depends very much on which country you’re talking about, what they want to get out of it (Geopolitical influence? Tourism dollars? A cultural spectacle?), and whether they can balance that with their budget. 

But MoneyTransfers.com research can reveal that host countries have been tightening their purse strings over the last ten years. 

Based on initial reports in local media, this year’s event in Turin, Italy, will cost around €16.3 million, with €14.8m coming from municipal authorities and €1.5m from the national government, along with extra funds from sponsors. 

That’s just a fraction of the €60m (€89m when adjusted for inflation) spent by Azerbaijan in 2012 – and that doesn’t include the €100m the country spent to build a new stadium. 

Budgets (and eventual costs) have varied in those ten years, from the high €44.8m splurged by Denmark in 2014 to the restrained €19.9m spent by Malmö, Sweden the year before. 

Take a look at how the figures break down. 

Jonathan Merry, CEO of MoneyTransfers.com, comments:

So buona fortuna, bonne chance, viel glück, buena suerte and best of luck to all the competitors this Saturday. The MoneyTransfers.com team will be tuning in. 

Full figures used by MoneyTransfers.com

Notes on data: Figures are taken from contemporaneous reported media and are intended to give an indication of rough budget value. 

Figures used in the infographic are adjusted for inflation.