New Zealand vs Spain: Public social spending as share of GDP
New Zealand
24.6%
in 2022
Spain
25.9%
in 2024
New Zealand rank
11th
Spain rank
9th
Public social spending as share of GDP over time
- New Zealand
- Spain
How they compare
Spain currently reports 25.9% against 24.6% in New Zealand, a difference of 1.3%.
That makes Spain's figure about 1.1 times New Zealand's.
The two have swapped places 5 times across 43 shared years of data; in 1980 it was New Zealand ahead.
New Zealand ranks 11th and Spain ranks 9th of 42 countries.
Across the 5 decades both report, New Zealand averaged higher in 1 and Spain in 4.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | New Zealand | Spain | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 17.0% | 16.6% | 0.5% | New Zealand |
| 1990s | 18.9% | 20.4% | 1.5% | Spain |
| 2000s | 19.0% | 20.2% | 1.2% | Spain |
| 2010s | 21.0% | 24.7% | 3.7% | Spain |
| 2020s | 23.8% | 28.3% | 4.5% | Spain |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher public social spending as share of gdp, New Zealand or Spain?
- Spain, at 25.9% against 24.6% in New Zealand as of 2024.
- What is the difference in public social spending as share of gdp between New Zealand and Spain?
- 1.3%, with Spain ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for New Zealand and Spain?
- 43 years are reported by both, from 1980 to 2022.
- How do New Zealand and Spain rank globally for public social spending as share of gdp?
- New Zealand ranks 11th and Spain ranks 9th of 42 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – 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.