Public social spending as share of GDP in Belgium
Belgium: Public social spending as share of GDP was 28.6% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Public social spending as share of GDP in Belgium, 1880–2024
Source: OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2024, public social spending as share of gdp in Belgium stood at 28.6%.
That represents a change of up 1.0% on the previous year and up 1.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public social spending as share of gdp in Belgium peaked at 31.6% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 1880.
Belgium ranks 4th of 42 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 71 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 1 |
| 1890s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 1 |
| 1900s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 1 |
| 1910s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 1 |
| 1920s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1 |
| 1930s | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 1 |
| 1960s | 12.4% | 10.2% | 14.7% | 10 |
| 1970s | 19.2% | 14.9% | 23.4% | 10 |
| 1980s | 25.3% | 23.5% | 26.0% | 10 |
| 1990s | 25.4% | 24.7% | 26.3% | 10 |
| 2000s | 25.1% | 23.9% | 27.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 28.2% | 27.7% | 29.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 29.1% | 27.8% | 31.6% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Belgium
More reference data data for Belgium
- Spring temperature anomalies 1.66 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 3.25 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.0177 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.4336 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 1.84 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 145.66 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 Belgium?
- Public social spending as share of gdp in Belgium was 28.6% in 2024, 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 Belgium?
- The highest recorded value was 31.6% in 2020.
- What is the lowest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in Belgium?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 1880.
- How does Belgium rank for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Belgium ranks 4th out of 42 countries with data for 2024.
- Is public social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Belgium?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Belgium 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 — 71 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.