Denmark vs Germany: Social expenditure aggregates

Denmark
26.42 Percentage of GDP
in 2024
Germany
27.85 Percentage of GDP
in 2024
Denmark rank
7th
Germany rank
5th

Social expenditure aggregates over time

  • Denmark
  • Germany
0102030198020022024

How they compare

Germany currently reports 27.85 Percentage of GDP against 26.42 Percentage of GDP in Denmark, a difference of 1.43 Percentage of GDP.

That makes Germany's figure about 1.1 times Denmark's.

The two have swapped places 6 times across 45 shared years of data; in 1980 it was Germany ahead.

Denmark ranks 7th and Germany ranks 5th of 33 countries.

Across the 5 decades both report, Denmark averaged higher in 1 and Germany in 4.

Head to head by decade

Decade Denmark Germany Difference Ahead
1980s 20.26 Percentage of GDP 22.22 Percentage of GDP 1.96 Percentage of GDP Germany
1990s 23.92 Percentage of GDP 24.68 Percentage of GDP 0.758 Percentage of GDP Germany
2000s 25.44 Percentage of GDP 25.64 Percentage of GDP 0.1988 Percentage of GDP Germany
2010s 29.62 Percentage of GDP 25.83 Percentage of GDP 3.79 Percentage of GDP Denmark
2020s 27.17 Percentage of GDP 28.24 Percentage of GDP 1.07 Percentage of GDP Germany

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher social expenditure aggregates, Denmark or Germany?
Germany, at 27.85 Percentage of GDP against 26.42 Percentage of GDP in Denmark as of 2024.
What is the difference in social expenditure aggregates between Denmark and Germany?
1.43 Percentage of GDP, with Germany ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Denmark and Germany?
45 years are reported by both, from 1980 to 2024.
How do Denmark and Germany rank globally for social expenditure aggregates?
Denmark ranks 7th and Germany ranks 5th of 33 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Social expenditure aggregates. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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Denmark vs Germany: Social expenditure aggregates. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 21 August 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/compare/social-expenditure-aggregates/denmark/germany/

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About this data

Indicator
Social expenditure aggregates
Unit
Percentage of GDP
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
43 places, 1,559 data points, 1980–2024
Last refreshed

The OECD Social Expenditure Database (SOCX) has been developed in order to serve a growing need for indicators of social policy. It includes reliable and internationally comparable statistics on public and mandatory and voluntary private social expenditure at programme level. SOCX provides a unique tool for monitoring trends in aggregate social expenditure and analysing changes in its composition. It covers 38 OECD countries and some accession countries for the period 1980-2021/23 and estimates for aggregates for 2022-24. A Social Expenditure Update can be found under www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/social-expenditure-database-socx.htm. The main social policy areas are as follows: Old age, Survivors, Incapacity-related benefits, Health, Family, Active labor market programmes, Unemployment, Housing, and Other social policy areas. This version also includes estimates of net total social spending for 2021 for 38 OECD countries. SOCX aggregated data as well as sources and methodology are described in The OECD SOCX Manual – 2019 edition- A guide to the OECD Social Expenditure Database.