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

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.

Indicator: Public social spending as share of GDP
Unit: % of GDP
Source: OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 42 places, 1,937 data points, 1880–2024
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Public social expenditure divided bt gross domestic product, expressed as a percentage.