Public and private social expenditure in Portugal
Portugal: Public and private social expenditure was 24.11 Percentage of GDP in 2024. ▲ Rising
Public and private social expenditure in Portugal, 1980–2024
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Percentage of GDP.
Analysis
Portugal recorded 24.11 Percentage of GDP for public and private social expenditure in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.9% on the previous year and down 3.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public and private social expenditure in Portugal peaked at 26.06 Percentage of GDP in 2020 and was at its lowest, 9.52 Percentage of GDP, in 1980.
That places Portugal 12th out of 33 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 45 years of available data.
Public and private social expenditure in Portugal, year by year
| Year | Percentage of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 9.52 Percentage of GDP | — |
| 1981 | 10.16 Percentage of GDP | +6.7% |
| 1982 | 9.61 Percentage of GDP | -5.3% |
| 1983 | 9.73 Percentage of GDP | +1.2% |
| 1984 | 9.66 Percentage of GDP | -0.7% |
| 1985 | 9.83 Percentage of GDP | +1.7% |
| 1986 | 10.42 Percentage of GDP | +6.0% |
| 1987 | 10.7 Percentage of GDP | +2.6% |
| 1988 | 10.85 Percentage of GDP | +1.5% |
| 1989 | 10.49 Percentage of GDP | -3.3% |
| 1990 | 12.22 Percentage of GDP | +16.5% |
| 1991 | 13.1 Percentage of GDP | +7.2% |
| 1992 | 13.76 Percentage of GDP | +5.0% |
| 1993 | 15.12 Percentage of GDP | +9.9% |
| 1994 | 15.24 Percentage of GDP | +0.8% |
| 1995 | 16.02 Percentage of GDP | +5.1% |
| 1996 | 16.6 Percentage of GDP | +3.6% |
| 1997 | 16.44 Percentage of GDP | -0.9% |
| 1998 | 16.84 Percentage of GDP | +2.4% |
| 1999 | 17.24 Percentage of GDP | +2.4% |
| 2000 | 18.58 Percentage of GDP | +7.7% |
| 2001 | 19.06 Percentage of GDP | +2.6% |
| 2002 | 20.41 Percentage of GDP | +7.1% |
| 2003 | 21.46 Percentage of GDP | +5.2% |
| 2004 | 21.8 Percentage of GDP | +1.6% |
| 2005 | 22.42 Percentage of GDP | +2.9% |
| 2006 | 21.64 Percentage of GDP | -3.5% |
| 2007 | 21.31 Percentage of GDP | -1.6% |
| 2008 | 21.77 Percentage of GDP | +2.2% |
| 2009 | 24.11 Percentage of GDP | +10.8% |
| 2010 | 24.3 Percentage of GDP | +0.8% |
| 2011 | 24.2 Percentage of GDP | -0.4% |
| 2012 | 24.3 Percentage of GDP | +0.4% |
| 2013 | 25.39 Percentage of GDP | +4.5% |
| 2014 | 24.96 Percentage of GDP | -1.7% |
| 2015 | 23.97 Percentage of GDP | -4.0% |
| 2016 | 23.48 Percentage of GDP | -2.0% |
| 2017 | 22.78 Percentage of GDP | -3.0% |
| 2018 | 22.48 Percentage of GDP | -1.3% |
| 2019 | 22.33 Percentage of GDP | -0.7% |
| 2020 | 26.06 Percentage of GDP | +16.7% |
| 2021 | 25.5 Percentage of GDP | -2.1% |
| 2022 | 24.07 Percentage of GDP | -5.6% |
| 2023 | 22.98 Percentage of GDP | -4.5% |
| 2024 | 24.11 Percentage of GDP | +4.9% |
Portugal compared with similar countries
- Portugal's 24.11 Percentage of GDP is above the median for high income countries, which is 23.74 Percentage of GDP, 1.0× the median. (29 countries reporting)
- Portugal's 24.11 Percentage of GDP is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 24.05 Percentage of GDP, 1.0× the median. (21 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 10.1 Percentage of GDP | 9.52 Percentage of GDP | 10.85 Percentage of GDP | 10 |
| 1990s | 15.26 Percentage of GDP | 12.22 Percentage of GDP | 17.24 Percentage of GDP | 10 |
| 2000s | 21.26 Percentage of GDP | 18.58 Percentage of GDP | 24.11 Percentage of GDP | 10 |
| 2010s | 23.82 Percentage of GDP | 22.33 Percentage of GDP | 25.39 Percentage of GDP | 10 |
| 2020s | 24.54 Percentage of GDP | 22.98 Percentage of GDP | 26.06 Percentage of GDP | 5 |
Countries ranked near Portugal
More social development data for Portugal
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 70,349 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 109 (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 109 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0065 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 Portugal?
- Public and private social expenditure in Portugal was 24.11 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 Portugal?
- The highest recorded value was 26.06 Percentage of GDP in 2020.
- What is the lowest public and private social expenditure recorded in Portugal?
- The lowest recorded value was 9.52 Percentage of GDP in 1980.
- How does Portugal rank for public and private social expenditure?
- Portugal ranks 12th out of 33 countries with data for 2024.
- Is public and private social expenditure rising or falling in Portugal?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Portugal 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.