Canada vs United States: Public social spending as share of GDP
Canada
19.3%
in 2022
United States
19.8%
in 2024
Canada rank
24th
United States rank
22nd
Public social spending as share of GDP over time
- Canada
- United States
How they compare
United States currently reports 19.8% against 19.3% in Canada, a difference of 0.5%.
The two have swapped places 3 times across 69 shared years of data; in 1880 it was United States ahead.
Canada ranks 24th and United States ranks 22nd of 42 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, Canada averaged higher in 7 and United States in 6.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Canada | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.3% | United States |
| 1890s | 0.0% | 0.5% | 0.5% | United States |
| 1900s | 0.0% | 0.6% | 0.6% | United States |
| 1910s | 0.0% | 0.6% | 0.6% | United States |
| 1920s | 0.1% | 0.7% | 0.6% | United States |
| 1930s | 0.3% | 0.6% | 0.3% | United States |
| 1960s | 8.6% | 7.0% | 1.6% | Canada |
| 1970s | 12.6% | 10.9% | 1.7% | Canada |
| 1980s | 15.7% | 13.0% | 2.7% | Canada |
| 1990s | 18.7% | 14.5% | 4.2% | Canada |
| 2000s | 17.1% | 15.7% | 1.4% | Canada |
| 2010s | 18.6% | 18.5% | 0.1% | Canada |
| 2020s | 22.4% | 21.4% | 0.9% | 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 United States?
- United States, at 19.8% against 19.3% in Canada as of 2024.
- What is the difference in public social spending as share of gdp between Canada and United States?
- 0.5%, with United States ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Canada and United States?
- 69 years are reported by both, from 1880 to 2022.
- How do Canada and United States rank globally for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Canada ranks 24th and United States ranks 22nd 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.