Social expenditure aggregates in Portugal

Portugal: Social expenditure aggregates was 24.11 Percentage of GDP in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
24.11 Percentage of GDP
Change on year
up 4.9%
World rank
12th
of 33 countries
All-time high
26.06 Percentage of GDP
in 2020
All-time low
9.52 Percentage of GDP
in 1980
Years of data
45
1980–2024

Social expenditure aggregates in Portugal, 1980–2024

01020301980200220241980: 9.5 Percentage of GDP1981: 10.2 Percentage of GDP1982: 9.6 Percentage of GDP1983: 9.7 Percentage of GDP1984: 9.7 Percentage of GDP1985: 9.8 Percentage of GDP1986: 10.4 Percentage of GDP1987: 10.7 Percentage of GDP1988: 10.9 Percentage of GDP1989: 10.5 Percentage of GDP1990: 12.2 Percentage of GDP1991: 13.1 Percentage of GDP1992: 13.8 Percentage of GDP1993: 15.1 Percentage of GDP1994: 15.2 Percentage of GDP1995: 16 Percentage of GDP1996: 16.6 Percentage of GDP1997: 16.4 Percentage of GDP1998: 16.8 Percentage of GDP1999: 17.2 Percentage of GDP2000: 18.6 Percentage of GDP2001: 19.1 Percentage of GDP2002: 20.4 Percentage of GDP2003: 21.5 Percentage of GDP2004: 21.8 Percentage of GDP2005: 22.4 Percentage of GDP2006: 21.6 Percentage of GDP2007: 21.3 Percentage of GDP2008: 21.8 Percentage of GDP2009: 24.1 Percentage of GDP2010: 24.3 Percentage of GDP2011: 24.2 Percentage of GDP2012: 24.3 Percentage of GDP2013: 25.4 Percentage of GDP2014: 25 Percentage of GDP2015: 24 Percentage of GDP2016: 23.5 Percentage of GDP2017: 22.8 Percentage of GDP2018: 22.5 Percentage of GDP2019: 22.3 Percentage of GDP2020: 26.1 Percentage of GDP2021: 25.5 Percentage of GDP2022: 24.1 Percentage of GDP2023: 23 Percentage of GDP2024: 24.1 Percentage of GDP

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Percentage of GDP.

Analysis

The most recent figure for social expenditure aggregates in Portugal is 24.11 Percentage of GDP, measured 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, social expenditure aggregates in Portugal peaked at 26.06 Percentage of GDP in 2020 and was at its lowest, 9.52 Percentage of GDP, in 1980.

Portugal ranks 12th of 33 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 45 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest 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

  1. 9 Spain 25.87 Percentage of GDP compare
  2. 10 Japan 24.74 Percentage of GDP compare
  3. 11 New Zealand 24.62 Percentage of GDP compare
  4. 13 Norway 24.05 Percentage of GDP compare
  5. 14 Luxembourg 23.96 Percentage of GDP compare
  6. 15 Greece 23.74 Percentage of GDP compare

See the full ranking of 43 places →

More social development data for Portugal

All data for Portugal →

Frequently asked questions

What is social expenditure aggregates in Portugal?
Social expenditure aggregates in Portugal was 24.11 Percentage of GDP in 2024, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
What is the highest social expenditure aggregates recorded in Portugal?
The highest recorded value was 26.06 Percentage of GDP in 2020.
What is the lowest social expenditure aggregates recorded in Portugal?
The lowest recorded value was 9.52 Percentage of GDP in 1980.
How does Portugal rank for social expenditure aggregates?
Portugal ranks 12th out of 33 countries with data for 2024.
Is social expenditure aggregates 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 Social expenditure aggregates. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Social expenditure aggregates in Portugal. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 21 August 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/social-expenditure-aggregates/portugal/

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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.