Italy vs Spain: Public social spending as share of GDP
Italy
27.6%
in 2024
Spain
25.9%
in 2024
Italy rank
6th
Spain rank
9th
Public social spending as share of GDP over time
- Italy
- Spain
How they compare
Italy currently reports 27.6% against 25.9% in Spain, a difference of 1.7%.
That makes Italy's figure about 1.1 times Spain's.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 45 shared years of data; in 1980 it was Italy ahead.
Italy ranks 6th and Spain ranks 9th of 42 countries.
Italy has averaged higher in every one of the 5 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Italy | Spain | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 19.5% | 16.6% | 3.0% | Italy |
| 1990s | 21.7% | 20.4% | 1.2% | Italy |
| 2000s | 23.9% | 20.2% | 3.7% | Italy |
| 2010s | 27.5% | 24.7% | 2.8% | Italy |
| 2020s | 29.1% | 27.4% | 1.8% | Italy |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher public social spending as share of gdp, Italy or Spain?
- Italy, at 27.6% against 25.9% in Spain as of 2024.
- What is the difference in public social spending as share of gdp between Italy and Spain?
- 1.7%, with Italy ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Italy and Spain?
- 45 years are reported by both, from 1980 to 2024.
- How do Italy and Spain rank globally for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Italy ranks 6th and Spain ranks 9th 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.