Public social spending as share of GDP in Canada
Canada: Public social spending as share of GDP was 19.3% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Public social spending as share of GDP in Canada, 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 Canada is 19.3%, measured in 2022.
That represents a change of down 11.6% on the previous year and up 7.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public social spending as share of gdp in Canada peaked at 25.9% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 1880.
That places Canada 24th 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.
Public social spending as share of GDP in Canada, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 0.0% | — |
| 1890 | 0.0% | — |
| 1900 | 0.0% | — |
| 1910 | 0.0% | — |
| 1920 | 0.1% | — |
| 1930 | 0.3% | +416.7% |
| 1960 | 8.2% | +2536.5% |
| 1961 | 8.5% | +3.4% |
| 1962 | 8.4% | -0.5% |
| 1963 | 8.3% | -0.8% |
| 1964 | 8.3% | -1.1% |
| 1965 | 8.0% | -3.2% |
| 1966 | 8.1% | +1.7% |
| 1967 | 8.9% | +9.3% |
| 1968 | 9.4% | +6.1% |
| 1969 | 9.8% | +3.8% |
| 1970 | 10.6% | +7.9% |
| 1971 | 11.4% | +8.4% |
| 1972 | 12.2% | +6.7% |
| 1973 | 12.2% | +0.1% |
| 1974 | 12.6% | +3.2% |
| 1975 | 13.8% | +9.1% |
| 1976 | 13.5% | -2.2% |
| 1977 | 13.7% | +1.7% |
| 1978 | 13.5% | -1.5% |
| 1979 | 13.0% | -3.7% |
| 1980 | 13.4% | +3.1% |
| 1981 | 13.9% | +3.5% |
| 1982 | 16.2% | +16.6% |
| 1983 | 16.3% | +1.0% |
| 1984 | 16.0% | -1.8% |
| 1985 | 16.5% | +3.0% |
| 1986 | 16.5% | -0.3% |
| 1987 | 16.2% | -1.6% |
| 1988 | 16.0% | -1.1% |
| 1989 | 16.4% | +2.3% |
| 1990 | 17.7% | +8.0% |
| 1991 | 20.1% | +13.6% |
| 1992 | 20.8% | +3.3% |
| 1993 | 20.7% | -0.2% |
| 1994 | 19.6% | -5.3% |
| 1995 | 18.8% | -4.4% |
| 1996 | 18.0% | -4.1% |
| 1997 | 17.5% | -2.8% |
| 1998 | 17.5% | +0.1% |
| 1999 | 16.4% | -6.1% |
| 2000 | 16.4% | -0.4% |
| 2001 | 16.8% | +2.7% |
| 2002 | 16.8% | +0.1% |
| 2003 | 16.9% | +0.4% |
| 2004 | 16.9% | +0.1% |
| 2005 | 16.7% | -1.1% |
| 2006 | 17.1% | +2.2% |
| 2007 | 17.0% | -0.4% |
| 2008 | 17.1% | +0.6% |
| 2009 | 18.9% | +10.6% |
| 2010 | 18.4% | -2.7% |
| 2011 | 17.9% | -2.8% |
| 2012 | 18.1% | +0.9% |
| 2013 | 17.9% | -0.7% |
| 2014 | 17.8% | -0.5% |
| 2015 | 18.9% | +5.8% |
| 2016 | 19.2% | +1.6% |
| 2017 | 19.1% | -0.5% |
| 2018 | 19.1% | +0.1% |
| 2019 | 19.8% | +3.8% |
| 2020 | 25.9% | +30.5% |
| 2021 | 21.9% | -15.6% |
| 2022 | 19.3% | -11.6% |
Canada compared with similar countries
- Canada's 19.3% is below the median for high income countries, which is 22.3%, 87% of the median. (38 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Public social spending as share of GDP in Canada 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | +2536.5% | 0.3% | 8.2% |
| 1930 | +416.7% | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| 2020 | +30.5% | 19.8% | 25.9% |
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 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1 |
| 1920s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 1 |
| 1930s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 1 |
| 1960s | 8.6% | 8.0% | 9.8% | 10 |
| 1970s | 12.6% | 10.6% | 13.8% | 10 |
| 1980s | 15.7% | 13.4% | 16.5% | 10 |
| 1990s | 18.7% | 16.4% | 20.8% | 10 |
| 2000s | 17.1% | 16.4% | 18.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 18.6% | 17.8% | 19.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 22.4% | 19.3% | 25.9% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Canada
More reference data data for Canada
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 2.05 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 3.92 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 20.47 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.92 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 20.47 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 6.86 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 7.45 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 22.03 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 99.83 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 15.88 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is public social spending as share of gdp in Canada?
- Public social spending as share of gdp in Canada was 19.3% 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 Canada?
- The highest recorded value was 25.9% in 2020.
- What is the lowest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in Canada?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 1880.
- How does Canada rank for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Canada ranks 24th out of 42 countries with data for 2022.
- Is public social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Canada?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Canada 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.