Public and private social expenditure in Spain
Spain: Public and private social expenditure was 25.87 Percentage of GDP in 2024. ▲ Rising
Public and private social expenditure in Spain, 1980–2024
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Percentage of GDP.
Analysis
The most recent figure for public and private social expenditure in Spain is 25.87 Percentage of GDP, measured in 2024.
That represents a change of down 0.2% on the previous year and up 2.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public and private social expenditure in Spain peaked at 30.61 Percentage of GDP in 2020 and was at its lowest, 14.95 Percentage of GDP, in 1980.
Spain ranks 9th 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 Spain, year by year
| Year | Percentage of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 14.95 Percentage of GDP | — |
| 1981 | 16.05 Percentage of GDP | +7.4% |
| 1982 | 16.07 Percentage of GDP | +0.1% |
| 1983 | 16.79 Percentage of GDP | +4.5% |
| 1984 | 16.57 Percentage of GDP | -1.3% |
| 1985 | 17.1 Percentage of GDP | +3.2% |
| 1986 | 16.85 Percentage of GDP | -1.5% |
| 1987 | 16.73 Percentage of GDP | -0.7% |
| 1988 | 17.21 Percentage of GDP | +2.9% |
| 1989 | 17.33 Percentage of GDP | +0.7% |
| 1990 | 19.16 Percentage of GDP | +10.6% |
| 1991 | 19.89 Percentage of GDP | +3.8% |
| 1992 | 21.03 Percentage of GDP | +5.7% |
| 1993 | 22.27 Percentage of GDP | +5.9% |
| 1994 | 21.28 Percentage of GDP | -4.5% |
| 1995 | 20.65 Percentage of GDP | -3.0% |
| 1996 | 20.54 Percentage of GDP | -0.5% |
| 1997 | 19.98 Percentage of GDP | -2.8% |
| 1998 | 19.85 Percentage of GDP | -0.6% |
| 1999 | 19.72 Percentage of GDP | -0.6% |
| 2000 | 19.01 Percentage of GDP | -3.6% |
| 2001 | 18.64 Percentage of GDP | -2.0% |
| 2002 | 18.86 Percentage of GDP | +1.2% |
| 2003 | 19.48 Percentage of GDP | +3.3% |
| 2004 | 19.71 Percentage of GDP | +1.2% |
| 2005 | 19.95 Percentage of GDP | +1.2% |
| 2006 | 20.01 Percentage of GDP | +0.3% |
| 2007 | 20.17 Percentage of GDP | +0.8% |
| 2008 | 21.41 Percentage of GDP | +6.2% |
| 2009 | 24.66 Percentage of GDP | +15.2% |
| 2010 | 24.87 Percentage of GDP | +0.8% |
| 2011 | 25.5 Percentage of GDP | +2.5% |
| 2012 | 25.43 Percentage of GDP | -0.2% |
| 2013 | 25.57 Percentage of GDP | +0.6% |
| 2014 | 25.21 Percentage of GDP | -1.4% |
| 2015 | 24.49 Percentage of GDP | -2.8% |
| 2016 | 24.05 Percentage of GDP | -1.8% |
| 2017 | 23.58 Percentage of GDP | -2.0% |
| 2018 | 23.72 Percentage of GDP | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 24.34 Percentage of GDP | +2.6% |
| 2020 | 30.61 Percentage of GDP | +25.7% |
| 2021 | 28.41 Percentage of GDP | -7.2% |
| 2022 | 25.96 Percentage of GDP | -8.6% |
| 2023 | 25.93 Percentage of GDP | -0.1% |
| 2024 | 25.87 Percentage of GDP | -0.2% |
Spain compared with similar countries
- Spain's 25.87 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)
- Spain's 25.87 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)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Public and private social expenditure in Spain 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 | +25.7% | 24.34 Percentage of GDP | 30.61 Percentage of GDP |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 16.57 Percentage of GDP | 14.95 Percentage of GDP | 17.33 Percentage of GDP | 10 |
| 1990s | 20.44 Percentage of GDP | 19.16 Percentage of GDP | 22.27 Percentage of GDP | 10 |
| 2000s | 20.19 Percentage of GDP | 18.64 Percentage of GDP | 24.66 Percentage of GDP | 10 |
| 2010s | 24.68 Percentage of GDP | 23.58 Percentage of GDP | 25.57 Percentage of GDP | 10 |
| 2020s | 27.36 Percentage of GDP | 25.87 Percentage of GDP | 30.61 Percentage of GDP | 5 |
Countries ranked near Spain
- 6 Italy 27.57 Percentage of GDP compare
- 6 Lithuania 16.94 Percentage of GDP compare
- 7 Türkiye 10.36 Percentage of GDP compare
- 7 Denmark 26.42 Percentage of GDP compare
- 8 Sweden 26.09 Percentage of GDP compare
- 10 Japan 24.74 Percentage of GDP compare
- 11 New Zealand 24.62 Percentage of GDP compare
- 12 Portugal 24.11 Percentage of GDP compare
More social development data for Spain
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 511,079 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 186 (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 186 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0104 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 Spain?
- Public and private social expenditure in Spain was 25.87 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 Spain?
- The highest recorded value was 30.61 Percentage of GDP in 2020.
- What is the lowest public and private social expenditure recorded in Spain?
- The lowest recorded value was 14.95 Percentage of GDP in 1980.
- How does Spain rank for public and private social expenditure?
- Spain ranks 9th out of 33 countries with data for 2024.
- Is public and private social expenditure rising or falling in Spain?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Spain 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.
Download this data
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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.