Denmark vs Germany: Public social spending as share of GDP

Denmark

26.4%

in 2024

Germany

27.9%

in 2024

Denmark rank

7th

Germany rank

5th

Public social spending as share of GDP over time

Germany currently reports 27.9% against 26.4% in Denmark, a difference of 1.4%.

That makes Germany's figure about 1.1 times Denmark's.

The two have swapped places 7 times across 49 shared years of data; in 1880 it was Denmark ahead.

Denmark ranks 7th and Germany ranks 5th 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.