Social protection spending as share of total government spending in Latvia
Latvia: Social protection spending as share of total government spending was 31.0% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Social protection spending as share of total government spending in Latvia, 2007–2023
Source: OECD (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of government expenditure.
Analysis
Latvia recorded 31.0% for social protection spending as share of total government spending in 2023.
That represents a change of down 2.2% on the previous year and up 3.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, social protection spending as share of total government spending in Latvia peaked at 31.7% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 22.9%, in 2007.
That places Latvia 26th out of 37 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 17 years of available data.
Social protection spending as share of total government spending in Latvia, year by year
| Year | % of government expenditure | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 22.9% | — |
| 2008 | 23.5% | +2.5% |
| 2009 | 30.7% | +30.9% |
| 2010 | 30.7% | -0.1% |
| 2011 | 29.6% | -3.4% |
| 2012 | 29.2% | -1.4% |
| 2013 | 29.9% | +2.4% |
| 2014 | 29.2% | -2.3% |
| 2015 | 30.3% | +3.7% |
| 2016 | 31.3% | +3.3% |
| 2017 | 30.4% | -2.8% |
| 2018 | 29.4% | -3.5% |
| 2019 | 31.3% | +6.7% |
| 2020 | 30.7% | -2.0% |
| 2021 | 30.0% | -2.4% |
| 2022 | 31.7% | +5.7% |
| 2023 | 31.0% | -2.2% |
Latvia compared with similar countries
- Latvia's 31.0% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 37.5%, 83% of the median. (29 countries reporting)
- Latvia's 31.0% is below the median for high income countries, which is 36.4%, 85% of the median. (36 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Social protection spending as share of total government spending in Latvia changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | +30.9% | 23.5% | 30.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 25.7% | 22.9% | 30.7% | 3 |
| 2010s | 30.1% | 29.2% | 31.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 30.8% | 30.0% | 31.7% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Latvia
More reference data data for Latvia
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.128 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0503 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.4657 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0673 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.4657 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.4291 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.2986 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.2679 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 2.27 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.3666 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is social protection spending as share of total government spending in Latvia?
- Social protection spending as share of total government spending in Latvia was 31.0% in 2023, according to OECD (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest social protection spending as share of total government spending recorded in Latvia?
- The highest recorded value was 31.7% in 2022.
- What is the lowest social protection spending as share of total government spending recorded in Latvia?
- The lowest recorded value was 22.9% in 2007.
- How does Latvia rank for social protection spending as share of total government spending?
- Latvia ranks 26th out of 37 countries with data for 2023.
- Is social protection spending as share of total government spending rising or falling in Latvia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Latvia data come from?
- The figures come from OECD (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Social protection spending as share of total government spending. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
General government expenditure on social protection. This data is divided by total government expenditure, expressed as a percentage.