Public and private social expenditure in Denmark
Denmark: Public and private social expenditure was 26.42 Percentage of GDP in 2024. ▲ Rising
Public and private social expenditure in Denmark, 1980–2024
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Percentage of GDP.
Analysis
In 2024, public and private social expenditure in Denmark stood at 26.42 Percentage of GDP.
That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and down 12.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public and private social expenditure in Denmark peaked at 30.24 Percentage of GDP in 2012 and was at its lowest, 19.22 Percentage of GDP, in 1985.
Denmark ranks 7th of 33 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 45 years of available data.
Public and private social expenditure in Denmark, year by year
| Year | Percentage of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 20.35 Percentage of GDP | — |
| 1981 | 20.27 Percentage of GDP | -0.4% |
| 1982 | 20.08 Percentage of GDP | -0.9% |
| 1983 | 20.17 Percentage of GDP | +0.5% |
| 1984 | 19.31 Percentage of GDP | -4.3% |
| 1985 | 19.22 Percentage of GDP | -0.5% |
| 1986 | 19.75 Percentage of GDP | +2.7% |
| 1987 | 20.52 Percentage of GDP | +3.9% |
| 1988 | 21.48 Percentage of GDP | +4.7% |
| 1989 | 21.49 Percentage of GDP | +0.1% |
| 1990 | 21.95 Percentage of GDP | +2.1% |
| 1991 | 22.41 Percentage of GDP | +2.1% |
| 1992 | 22.59 Percentage of GDP | +0.8% |
| 1993 | 23.8 Percentage of GDP | +5.4% |
| 1994 | 25.45 Percentage of GDP | +6.9% |
| 1995 | 25.53 Percentage of GDP | +0.3% |
| 1996 | 24.97 Percentage of GDP | -2.2% |
| 1997 | 24.2 Percentage of GDP | -3.1% |
| 1998 | 23.76 Percentage of GDP | -1.8% |
| 1999 | 24.56 Percentage of GDP | +3.4% |
| 2000 | 23.78 Percentage of GDP | -3.2% |
| 2001 | 24.28 Percentage of GDP | +2.1% |
| 2002 | 24.78 Percentage of GDP | +2.1% |
| 2003 | 25.29 Percentage of GDP | +2.0% |
| 2004 | 25.06 Percentage of GDP | -0.9% |
| 2005 | 25.13 Percentage of GDP | +0.3% |
| 2006 | 24.92 Percentage of GDP | -0.9% |
| 2007 | 25.85 Percentage of GDP | +3.7% |
| 2008 | 26.2 Percentage of GDP | +1.4% |
| 2009 | 29.16 Percentage of GDP | +11.3% |
| 2010 | 29.88 Percentage of GDP | +2.5% |
| 2011 | 29.99 Percentage of GDP | +0.4% |
| 2012 | 30.24 Percentage of GDP | +0.8% |
| 2013 | 29.96 Percentage of GDP | -0.9% |
| 2014 | 30.03 Percentage of GDP | +0.3% |
| 2015 | 30.07 Percentage of GDP | +0.1% |
| 2016 | 29.52 Percentage of GDP | -1.8% |
| 2017 | 29.02 Percentage of GDP | -1.7% |
| 2018 | 28.76 Percentage of GDP | -0.9% |
| 2019 | 28.74 Percentage of GDP | -0.1% |
| 2020 | 29.57 Percentage of GDP | +2.9% |
| 2021 | 28.09 Percentage of GDP | -5.0% |
| 2022 | 25.48 Percentage of GDP | -9.3% |
| 2023 | 26.31 Percentage of GDP | +3.3% |
| 2024 | 26.42 Percentage of GDP | +0.4% |
Denmark compared with similar countries
- Denmark's 26.42 Percentage of GDP is above the median for high income countries, which is 23.74 Percentage of GDP, 1.1× the median. (29 countries reporting)
- Denmark's 26.42 Percentage of GDP is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 24.05 Percentage of GDP, 1.1× the median. (21 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 20.26 Percentage of GDP | 19.22 Percentage of GDP | 21.49 Percentage of GDP | 10 |
| 1990s | 23.92 Percentage of GDP | 21.95 Percentage of GDP | 25.53 Percentage of GDP | 10 |
| 2000s | 25.44 Percentage of GDP | 23.78 Percentage of GDP | 29.16 Percentage of GDP | 10 |
| 2010s | 29.62 Percentage of GDP | 28.74 Percentage of GDP | 30.24 Percentage of GDP | 10 |
| 2020s | 27.17 Percentage of GDP | 25.48 Percentage of GDP | 29.57 Percentage of GDP | 5 |
Countries ranked near Denmark
- 4 Belgium 28.57 Percentage of GDP compare
- 4 Netherlands 18.87 Percentage of GDP compare
- 5 Estonia 17.2 Percentage of GDP compare
- 5 Germany 27.85 Percentage of GDP compare
- 6 Italy 27.57 Percentage of GDP compare
- 6 Lithuania 16.94 Percentage of GDP compare
- 7 Türkiye 10.36 Percentage of GDP compare
- 8 Sweden 26.09 Percentage of GDP compare
- 9 Spain 25.87 Percentage of GDP compare
- 10 Japan 24.74 Percentage of GDP compare
More social development data for Denmark
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 95,007 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 21 (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 21 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0158 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 Denmark?
- Public and private social expenditure in Denmark was 26.42 Percentage of GDP in 2024, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest public and private social expenditure recorded in Denmark?
- The highest recorded value was 30.24 Percentage of GDP in 2012.
- What is the lowest public and private social expenditure recorded in Denmark?
- The lowest recorded value was 19.22 Percentage of GDP in 1985.
- How does Denmark rank for public and private social expenditure?
- Denmark ranks 7th out of 33 countries with data for 2024.
- Is public and private social expenditure rising or falling in Denmark?
- Over the last ten years it is down 12.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Denmark 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.