Canada vs Netherlands: Public social spending as share of GDP
Canada
19.3%
in 2022
Netherlands
18.9%
in 2024
Canada rank
24th
Netherlands rank
27th
Public social spending as share of GDP over time
- Canada
- Netherlands
How they compare
Canada currently reports 19.3% against 18.9% in Netherlands, a difference of 0.4%.
The two have swapped places 3 times across 69 shared years of data; in 1880 it was Netherlands ahead.
Canada ranks 24th and Netherlands ranks 27th of 42 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, Canada averaged higher in 2 and Netherlands in 11.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Canada | Netherlands | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.3% | Netherlands |
| 1890s | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.3% | Netherlands |
| 1900s | 0.0% | 0.4% | 0.4% | Netherlands |
| 1910s | 0.0% | 0.4% | 0.4% | Netherlands |
| 1920s | 0.1% | 1.0% | 0.9% | Netherlands |
| 1930s | 0.3% | 1.0% | 0.7% | Netherlands |
| 1960s | 8.6% | 14.3% | 5.7% | Netherlands |
| 1970s | 12.6% | 22.4% | 9.8% | Netherlands |
| 1980s | 15.7% | 25.2% | 9.4% | Netherlands |
| 1990s | 18.7% | 23.3% | 4.6% | Netherlands |
| 2000s | 17.1% | 19.0% | 2.0% | Netherlands |
| 2010s | 18.6% | 18.4% | 0.2% | Canada |
| 2020s | 22.4% | 19.5% | 2.8% | Canada |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher public social spending as share of gdp, Canada or Netherlands?
- Canada, at 19.3% against 18.9% in Netherlands as of 2022.
- What is the difference in public social spending as share of gdp between Canada and Netherlands?
- 0.4%, with Canada ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Canada and Netherlands?
- 69 years are reported by both, from 1880 to 2022.
- How do Canada and Netherlands rank globally for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Canada ranks 24th and Netherlands ranks 27th of 42 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – 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.