Italy vs Sweden: Public social spending as share of GDP
Italy
27.6%
in 2024
Sweden
26.1%
in 2024
Italy rank
6th
Sweden rank
8th
Public social spending as share of GDP over time
- Italy
- Sweden
How they compare
Italy currently reports 27.6% against 26.1% in Sweden, a difference of 1.5%.
That makes Italy's figure about 1.1 times Sweden's.
The two have swapped places 7 times across 71 shared years of data; in 1880 it was Sweden ahead.
Italy ranks 6th and Sweden ranks 8th of 42 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, Italy averaged higher in 2 and Sweden in 11.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Italy | Sweden | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 0.0% | 0.7% | 0.7% | Sweden |
| 1890s | 0.0% | 0.8% | 0.8% | Sweden |
| 1900s | 0.0% | 0.8% | 0.8% | Sweden |
| 1910s | 0.0% | 1.0% | 1.0% | Sweden |
| 1920s | 0.0% | 1.1% | 1.1% | Sweden |
| 1930s | 0.1% | 2.6% | 2.5% | Sweden |
| 1960s | 12.3% | 12.6% | 0.3% | Sweden |
| 1970s | 16.2% | 20.0% | 3.8% | Sweden |
| 1980s | 19.5% | 26.0% | 6.4% | Sweden |
| 1990s | 21.7% | 30.3% | 8.6% | Sweden |
| 2000s | 23.9% | 27.3% | 3.4% | Sweden |
| 2010s | 27.5% | 27.2% | 0.2% | Italy |
| 2020s | 29.1% | 26.3% | 2.9% | 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 Sweden?
- Italy, at 27.6% against 26.1% in Sweden as of 2024.
- What is the difference in public social spending as share of gdp between Italy and Sweden?
- 1.5%, with Italy ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Italy and Sweden?
- 71 years are reported by both, from 1880 to 2024.
- How do Italy and Sweden rank globally for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Italy ranks 6th and Sweden ranks 8th 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.