Japan vs Spain: Public social spending as share of GDP
Japan
24.7%
in 2022
Spain
25.9%
in 2024
Japan rank
10th
Spain rank
9th
Public social spending as share of GDP over time
- Japan
- Spain
How they compare
Spain currently reports 25.9% against 24.7% in Japan, a difference of 1.2%.
Across all 43 years both countries report, Spain has been ahead every year.
Japan ranks 10th and Spain ranks 9th of 42 countries.
Spain has averaged higher in every one of the 5 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Japan | Spain | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 10.6% | 16.6% | 6.0% | Spain |
| 1990s | 12.4% | 20.4% | 8.1% | Spain |
| 2000s | 17.0% | 20.2% | 3.2% | Spain |
| 2010s | 21.9% | 24.7% | 2.8% | Spain |
| 2020s | 25.0% | 28.3% | 3.3% | Spain |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher public social spending as share of gdp, Japan or Spain?
- Spain, at 25.9% against 24.7% in Japan as of 2024.
- What is the difference in public social spending as share of gdp between Japan and Spain?
- 1.2%, with Spain ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Japan and Spain?
- 43 years are reported by both, from 1980 to 2022.
- How do Japan and Spain rank globally for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Japan ranks 10th 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.