Portugal vs Spain: Public social spending as share of GDP

Portugal

24.1%

in 2024

Spain

25.9%

in 2024

Portugal rank

12th

Spain rank

9th

Public social spending as share of GDP over time

Spain currently reports 25.9% against 24.1% in Portugal, a difference of 1.8%.

That makes Spain's figure about 1.1 times Portugal's.

The two have swapped places 2 times across 45 shared years of data; in 1980 it was Spain ahead.

Portugal ranks 12th and Spain ranks 9th of 42 countries.

Indicator: Public social spending as share of GDP
Unit: % of GDP
Source: OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 42 places, 1,937 data points, 1880–2024
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Public social expenditure divided bt gross domestic product, expressed as a percentage.