Iceland vs Latvia: Public social spending as share of GDP
Iceland
19.2%
in 2024
Latvia
19.7%
in 2023
Iceland rank
26th
Latvia rank
23rd
Public social spending as share of GDP over time
- Iceland
- Latvia
How they compare
Latvia currently reports 19.7% against 19.2% in Iceland, a difference of 0.5%.
The two have swapped places 5 times across 30 shared years of data; in 1994 it was Iceland ahead.
Iceland ranks 26th and Latvia ranks 23rd of 42 countries.
Iceland has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Iceland | Latvia | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 14.4% | 7.8% | 6.6% | Iceland |
| 2000s | 15.9% | 14.1% | 1.8% | Iceland |
| 2010s | 17.6% | 16.8% | 0.8% | Iceland |
| 2020s | 21.0% | 20.3% | 0.7% | Iceland |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher public social spending as share of gdp, Iceland or Latvia?
- Latvia, at 19.7% against 19.2% in Iceland as of 2023.
- What is the difference in public social spending as share of gdp between Iceland and Latvia?
- 0.5%, with Latvia ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Iceland and Latvia?
- 30 years are reported by both, from 1994 to 2023.
- How do Iceland and Latvia rank globally for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Iceland ranks 26th and Latvia ranks 23rd of 42 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) β 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.