Public and private social expenditure in Canada
Canada: Public and private social expenditure was 19.33 Percentage of GDP in 2022. ▲ Rising
Public and private social expenditure in Canada, 1980–2022
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Percentage of GDP.
Analysis
Canada recorded 19.33 Percentage of GDP for public and private social expenditure in 2022.
That represents a change of down 11.6% on the previous year and up 7.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public and private social expenditure in Canada peaked at 25.89 Percentage of GDP in 2020 and was at its lowest, 13.4 Percentage of GDP, in 1980.
That places Canada 21st out of 33 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 43 years of available data.
Public and private social expenditure in Canada, year by year
| Year | Percentage of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 13.4 Percentage of GDP | — |
| 1981 | 13.87 Percentage of GDP | +3.5% |
| 1982 | 16.17 Percentage of GDP | +16.6% |
| 1983 | 16.34 Percentage of GDP | +1.0% |
| 1984 | 16.04 Percentage of GDP | -1.8% |
| 1985 | 16.52 Percentage of GDP | +3.0% |
| 1986 | 16.48 Percentage of GDP | -0.3% |
| 1987 | 16.21 Percentage of GDP | -1.6% |
| 1988 | 16.03 Percentage of GDP | -1.1% |
| 1989 | 16.4 Percentage of GDP | +2.3% |
| 1990 | 17.7 Percentage of GDP | +8.0% |
| 1991 | 20.11 Percentage of GDP | +13.6% |
| 1992 | 20.78 Percentage of GDP | +3.3% |
| 1993 | 20.73 Percentage of GDP | -0.2% |
| 1994 | 19.64 Percentage of GDP | -5.3% |
| 1995 | 18.78 Percentage of GDP | -4.4% |
| 1996 | 18 Percentage of GDP | -4.1% |
| 1997 | 17.5 Percentage of GDP | -2.8% |
| 1998 | 17.51 Percentage of GDP | +0.1% |
| 1999 | 16.45 Percentage of GDP | -6.1% |
| 2000 | 16.38 Percentage of GDP | -0.4% |
| 2001 | 16.82 Percentage of GDP | +2.7% |
| 2002 | 16.84 Percentage of GDP | +0.1% |
| 2003 | 16.91 Percentage of GDP | +0.4% |
| 2004 | 16.93 Percentage of GDP | +0.1% |
| 2005 | 16.74 Percentage of GDP | -1.1% |
| 2006 | 17.1 Percentage of GDP | +2.2% |
| 2007 | 17.03 Percentage of GDP | -0.4% |
| 2008 | 17.14 Percentage of GDP | +0.6% |
| 2009 | 18.94 Percentage of GDP | +10.6% |
| 2010 | 18.43 Percentage of GDP | -2.7% |
| 2011 | 17.9 Percentage of GDP | -2.8% |
| 2012 | 18.07 Percentage of GDP | +0.9% |
| 2013 | 17.93 Percentage of GDP | -0.7% |
| 2014 | 17.85 Percentage of GDP | -0.5% |
| 2015 | 18.89 Percentage of GDP | +5.8% |
| 2016 | 19.19 Percentage of GDP | +1.6% |
| 2017 | 19.09 Percentage of GDP | -0.5% |
| 2018 | 19.12 Percentage of GDP | +0.1% |
| 2019 | 19.85 Percentage of GDP | +3.8% |
| 2020 | 25.89 Percentage of GDP | +30.5% |
| 2021 | 21.86 Percentage of GDP | -15.6% |
| 2022 | 19.33 Percentage of GDP | -11.6% |
Canada compared with similar countries
- Canada's 19.33 Percentage of GDP is below the median for high income countries, which is 23.74 Percentage of GDP, 81% of the median. (29 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Public and private social expenditure in Canada changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +30.5% | 19.85 Percentage of GDP | 25.89 Percentage of GDP |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 15.74 Percentage of GDP | 13.4 Percentage of GDP | 16.52 Percentage of GDP | 10 |
| 1990s | 18.72 Percentage of GDP | 16.45 Percentage of GDP | 20.78 Percentage of GDP | 10 |
| 2000s | 17.08 Percentage of GDP | 16.38 Percentage of GDP | 18.94 Percentage of GDP | 10 |
| 2010s | 18.63 Percentage of GDP | 17.85 Percentage of GDP | 19.85 Percentage of GDP | 10 |
| 2020s | 22.36 Percentage of GDP | 19.33 Percentage of GDP | 25.89 Percentage of GDP | 3 |
Countries ranked near Canada
More social development data for Canada
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 416,028 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 360 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 360 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.01 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is public and private social expenditure in Canada?
- Public and private social expenditure in Canada was 19.33 Percentage of GDP in 2022, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest public and private social expenditure recorded in Canada?
- The highest recorded value was 25.89 Percentage of GDP in 2020.
- What is the lowest public and private social expenditure recorded in Canada?
- The lowest recorded value was 13.4 Percentage of GDP in 1980.
- How does Canada rank for public and private social expenditure?
- Canada ranks 21st out of 33 countries with data for 2022.
- Is public and private social expenditure rising or falling in Canada?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Canada data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Public and private social expenditure. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
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.