Public social spending as share of GDP in Australia
Australia: Public social spending as share of GDP was 17.1% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Public social spending as share of GDP in Australia, 1880–2022
Source: OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
The most recent figure for public social spending as share of gdp in Australia is 17.1%, measured in 2022.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 5.5% on the previous year and down 1.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public social spending as share of gdp in Australia peaked at 22.6% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 1880.
That places Australia 31st out of 42 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 69 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1 |
| 1890s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1 |
| 1900s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1 |
| 1910s | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1 |
| 1920s | 1.7% | 1.7% | 1.7% | 1 |
| 1930s | 2.1% | 2.1% | 2.1% | 1 |
| 1960s | 6.0% | 5.6% | 6.3% | 10 |
| 1970s | 8.7% | 5.9% | 10.9% | 10 |
| 1980s | 11.4% | 10.1% | 12.1% | 10 |
| 1990s | 15.9% | 13.1% | 17.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 17.0% | 15.7% | 18.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 17.6% | 16.5% | 20.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 19.3% | 17.1% | 22.6% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More reference data data for Australia
- Spring temperature anomalies -0.4864 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.8615 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 1.13 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.0026 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.4713 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 148.46 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is public social spending as share of gdp in Australia?
- Public social spending as share of gdp in Australia was 17.1% in 2022, according to OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 22.6% in 2020.
- What is the lowest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 1880.
- How does Australia rank for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Australia ranks 31st out of 42 countries with data for 2022.
- Is public social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Public social spending as share of GDP. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 69 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Public social expenditure divided bt gross domestic product, expressed as a percentage.