⚠️ Unconfirmedsocial2021

Government expenditure on social protection (excluding health) as a share of GDP

Name: Government expenditure on social protection (excluding health) as a share of GDP
Creator: International Labour Organization (ILO) / World Social Protection Data (based on SDG 1.3.1)
Keywords: statistic-of-the-day, ai-generated, welfare state, pensions, unemployment, family benefits, social security, SDG 1.3.1, public finance, COFOG

Social protection (excluding health) spending as % of GDP shows how much countries invest in pensions, family benefits, unemployment support, and disability programs.

Source: International Labour Organization (ILO) / World Social Protection Data (based on SDG 1.3.1)•166 countries

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Key Insights

Global Average

6.8% of GDP

Median: 3.1% of GDP

Countries Covered

166

with available data

Highest

Italy

25.6% of GDP

Lowest

South Sudan

0.4% of GDP

Top 5 Countries

1Italy25.6% of GDP

2France24.9% of GDP

3Spain23.6% of GDP

4Germany21.8% of GDP

5Argentina21.7% of GDP

By Region

Europe16.6% of GDP(32 countries)

Oceania14.2% of GDP(2 countries)

South America8.5% of GDP(7 countries)

North America8.5% of GDP(4 countries)

Africa5.1% of GDP(9 countries)

Key Findings

•Many high-income European countries devote around 15–25% of GDP to non-health social protection, reflecting mature pension and income-support systems.
•Several low-income countries report spending below 1% of GDP, highlighting limited fiscal space and narrower program coverage.
•The United States’ share is notably lower than many Western European peers, illustrating different welfare-state structures and reliance on non-government channels.
•Ageing societies (e.g., Italy, France, Japan) tend to be among the highest spenders due to pension commitments.

Country Rankings

Top 10 Countries

Bottom 10 Countries

Data Analysis

Value Distribution

How countries are distributed across the value range

Low (0.2% of GDP)High (26.5% of GDP)

Regional Comparison

Average values by world region (Global avg: 6.8% of GDP)

Europe (32)

Oceania (2)

South America (7)

North America (4)

Africa (9)

Other (88)

Asia (24)

About This Statistic

This statistic measures how much each country’s government spends on social protection—such as old-age pensions, disability benefits, unemployment support, child and family benefits, and social assistance—expressed as a percentage of GDP. Health spending is excluded, so the figure focuses on income support and social security functions rather than medical care.

It’s an illuminating way to compare welfare-state effort across countries of very different sizes and income levels, because it normalizes spending by the overall economy. Differences reflect demographics (ageing vs. youthful populations), labor-market conditions, policy choices (universal vs. targeted programs), and the maturity of social insurance systems. Interpretation should consider that “% of GDP” can rise during recessions even if nominal spending is stable.

Full Data

Rank ↑	Country ↕	Value ↕
1	Italy	25.6% of GDP
2	France	24.9% of GDP
3	Spain	23.6% of GDP
4	Germany	21.8% of GDP
5	Argentina	21.7% of GDP
6	Fiji	21.2% of GDP
7	Japan	21.0% of GDP
8	Luxembourg	20.9% of GDP
9	Denmark	20.5% of GDP
10	Croatia	19.8% of GDP
11	Sweden	19.4% of GDP
12	United Kingdom	18.9% of GDP
13	Angola	18.9% of GDP
14	Benin	18.3% of GDP
15	Slovenia	18.2% of GDP
16	Belgium	18.1% of GDP
17	Greece	17.9% of GDP
18	Finland	17.4% of GDP
19	Norway	17.3% of GDP
20	Albania	17.2% of GDP
21	Faroe Islands	17.0% of GDP
22	Netherlands	16.7% of GDP
23	Estonia	16.6% of GDP
24	Australia	16.4% of GDP
25	Bulgaria	16.1% of GDP
26	Poland	16.0% of GDP
27	Switzerland	16.0% of GDP
28	Lithuania	15.8% of GDP
29	Portugal	15.4% of GDP
30	Andorra	15.0% of GDP
31	Canada	14.7% of GDP
32	Latvia	14.5% of GDP
33	Hungary	14.2% of GDP
34	Slovakia	13.6% of GDP
35	Belarus	13.2% of GDP
36	Russian Federation	12.8% of GDP
37	Austria	12.8% of GDP
38	Czech Republic	12.4% of GDP
39	Serbia	12.4% of GDP
40	Algeria	12.3% of GDP
41	Israel	12.1% of GDP
42	New Zealand	12.0% of GDP
43	The Republic of North Macedonia	12.0% of GDP
44	United States of America	12.0% of GDP
45	Brazil	11.8% of GDP
46	Cyprus	11.7% of GDP
47	Iceland	11.6% of GDP
48	Cuba	11.5% of GDP
49	Romania	11.0% of GDP
50	Cayman Islands	10.9% of GDP
51	Georgia	10.8% of GDP
52	Ireland	10.7% of GDP
53	Ukraine	10.7% of GDP
54	Chile	10.5% of GDP
55	Moldova, Republic of	10.1% of GDP
56	Montenegro	9.6% of GDP
57	Costa Rica	9.1% of GDP
58	State of Palestine	8.7% of GDP
59	South Korea	8.5% of GDP
60	Malta	8.3% of GDP
61	Mongolia	8.1% of GDP
62	Jordan	7.1% of GDP
63	Tunisia	7.0% of GDP
64	Bosnia and Herzegovina	6.2% of GDP
65	Uruguay	6.1% of GDP
66	Islamic Republic of Iran	5.8% of GDP
67	Bahamas	5.6% of GDP
68	Namibia	5.2% of GDP
69	Türkiye	4.8% of GDP
70	People's Republic of China	4.6% of GDP
71	Colombia	4.5% of GDP
72	Armenia	4.5% of GDP
73	El Salvador	4.1% of GDP
74	Lebanon	4.0% of GDP
75	Egypt	3.9% of GDP
76	Solomon Islands	3.9% of GDP
77	Mexico	3.8% of GDP
78	Guatemala	3.5% of GDP
79	South Africa	3.5% of GDP
80	Morocco	3.4% of GDP
81	Singapore	3.2% of GDP
82	Bermuda	3.2% of GDP
83	Nicaragua	3.1% of GDP
84	Belize	3.1% of GDP
85	Kyrgyzstan	3.0% of GDP
86	Peru	3.0% of GDP
87	Bhutan	3.0% of GDP
88	Mauritius	2.9% of GDP
89	Bolivia	2.9% of GDP
90	Central African Republic	2.7% of GDP
91	Saudi Arabia	2.5% of GDP
92	Honduras	2.4% of GDP
93	Kuwait	2.4% of GDP
94	Thailand	2.4% of GDP
95	Ecuador	2.2% of GDP
96	Venezuela	2.2% of GDP
97	Oman	2.1% of GDP
98	Sri Lanka	2.0% of GDP
99	Bahrain	2.0% of GDP
100	Indonesia	1.9% of GDP
101	Malaysia	1.8% of GDP
102	Vanuatu	1.8% of GDP
103	Dominican Republic	1.7% of GDP
104	Paraguay	1.7% of GDP
105	Suriname	1.7% of GDP
106	India	1.6% of GDP
107	Jamaica	1.6% of GDP
108	Ghana	1.5% of GDP
109	Lesotho	1.5% of GDP
110	Nepal	1.5% of GDP
111	New Caledonia	1.5% of GDP
112	Botswana	1.5% of GDP
113	Kazakhstan	1.4% of GDP
114	United Arab Emirates	1.4% of GDP
115	Libya	1.3% of GDP
116	Vietnam	1.3% of GDP
117	Trinidad and Tobago	1.3% of GDP
118	Iraq	1.2% of GDP
119	North Korea	1.2% of GDP
120	Madagascar	1.2% of GDP
121	Pakistan	1.2% of GDP
122	Papua New Guinea	1.2% of GDP
123	Haiti	1.1% of GDP
124	Maldives	1.1% of GDP
125	Bangladesh	1.1% of GDP
126	Myanmar	1.0% of GDP
127	Cape Verde	1.0% of GDP
128	Kenya	1.0% of GDP
129	Liberia	1.0% of GDP
130	Philippines	1.0% of GDP
131	Qatar	1.0% of GDP
132	Zimbabwe	1.0% of GDP
133	Eswatini	1.0% of GDP
134	Tajikistan	1.0% of GDP
135	Brunei Darussalam	1.0% of GDP
136	Cambodia	0.9% of GDP
137	Panama	0.9% of GDP
138	Senegal	0.9% of GDP
139	Uganda	0.9% of GDP
140	Burundi	0.8% of GDP
141	Comoros	0.8% of GDP
142	Cote d'Ivoire	0.8% of GDP
143	Mauritania	0.8% of GDP
144	Somalia	0.8% of GDP
145	Sudan	0.8% of GDP
146	United Republic of Tanzania	0.8% of GDP
147	Uzbekistan	0.8% of GDP
148	Republic of the Congo	0.7% of GDP
149	Djibouti	0.7% of GDP
150	Lao People's Democratic Republic	0.7% of GDP
151	Malawi	0.7% of GDP
152	Mozambique	0.7% of GDP
153	Zambia	0.7% of GDP
154	Cameroon	0.6% of GDP
155	Democratic Republic of the Congo	0.6% of GDP
156	Ethiopia	0.6% of GDP
157	Guinea	0.6% of GDP
158	Mali	0.6% of GDP
159	Rwanda	0.6% of GDP
160	Sierra Leone	0.6% of GDP
161	Yemen	0.6% of GDP
162	Chad	0.5% of GDP
163	Republic of The Gambia	0.5% of GDP
164	Nigeria	0.5% of GDP
165	Togo	0.5% of GDP
166	South Sudan	0.4% of GDP

Showing 166 of 166 countries

Topics

#statistic-of-the-day #ai-generated #welfare state #pensions #unemployment #family benefits #social security #SDG 1.3.1 #public finance #COFOG

Data Source

This data comes from International Labour Organization (ILO) / World Social Protection Data (based on SDG 1.3.1) (2021).

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