Costa Rica vs Peru: Public social spending as share of GDP
Costa Rica
12.6%
in 2022
Peru
7.5%
in 2023
Costa Rica rank
39th
Peru rank
42nd
Public social spending as share of GDP over time
- Costa Rica
- Peru
How they compare
Costa Rica currently reports 12.6% against 7.5% in Peru, a difference of 5.1%.
That makes Costa Rica's figure about 1.7 times Peru's.
Across all 11 years both countries report, Costa Rica has been ahead every year.
Costa Rica ranks 39th and Peru ranks 42nd of 42 countries.
Costa Rica has averaged higher in every one of the 2 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Costa Rica | Peru | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 12.0% | 7.5% | 4.6% | Costa Rica |
| 2020s | 13.2% | 8.7% | 4.5% | Costa Rica |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher public social spending as share of gdp, Costa Rica or Peru?
- Costa Rica, at 12.6% against 7.5% in Peru as of 2022.
- What is the difference in public social spending as share of gdp between Costa Rica and Peru?
- 5.1%, with Costa Rica ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Costa Rica and Peru?
- 11 years are reported by both, from 2012 to 2022.
- How do Costa Rica and Peru rank globally for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Costa Rica ranks 39th and Peru ranks 42nd 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.