France vs Germany: Public social spending as share of GDP

France

30.6%

in 2024

Germany

27.9%

in 2024

France rank

3rd

Germany rank

5th

Public social spending as share of GDP over time

France currently reports 30.6% against 27.9% in Germany, a difference of 2.8%.

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

The two have swapped places 5 times across 54 shared years of data; in 1880 it was Germany ahead.

France ranks 3rd 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.