Austria vs Belgium: Public social spending as share of GDP
Austria
31.6%
in 2024
Belgium
28.6%
in 2024
Austria rank
1st
Belgium rank
4th
Public social spending as share of GDP over time
- Austria
- Belgium
How they compare
Austria currently reports 31.6% against 28.6% in Belgium, a difference of 3.0%.
That makes Austria's figure about 1.1 times Belgium's.
The two have swapped places 7 times across 64 shared years of data; in 1880 it was Belgium ahead.
Austria ranks 1st and Belgium ranks 4th of 42 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, Austria averaged higher in 6 and Belgium in 7.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Austria | Belgium | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 0.0% | 0.2% | 0.2% | Belgium |
| 1890s | 0.0% | 0.2% | 0.2% | Belgium |
| 1900s | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.3% | Belgium |
| 1910s | 0.0% | 0.4% | 0.4% | Belgium |
| 1920s | 0.0% | 0.5% | 0.5% | Belgium |
| 1930s | 1.2% | 0.6% | 0.6% | Austria |
| 1960s | 16.4% | 12.4% | 4.0% | Austria |
| 1970s | 19.5% | 19.2% | 0.3% | Austria |
| 1980s | 22.6% | 24.8% | 2.2% | Belgium |
| 1990s | 25.6% | 25.4% | 0.2% | Austria |
| 2000s | 26.6% | 25.1% | 1.4% | Austria |
| 2010s | 28.1% | 28.2% | 0.2% | Belgium |
| 2020s | 31.3% | 29.1% | 2.2% | Austria |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher public social spending as share of gdp, Austria or Belgium?
- Austria, at 31.6% against 28.6% in Belgium as of 2024.
- What is the difference in public social spending as share of gdp between Austria and Belgium?
- 3.0%, with Austria ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Austria and Belgium?
- 64 years are reported by both, from 1880 to 2024.
- How do Austria and Belgium rank globally for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Austria ranks 1st and Belgium ranks 4th of 42 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) β with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Public social spending as share of GDP. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Public social expenditure divided bt gross domestic product, expressed as a percentage.