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.
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
- Spring temperature anomalies -4.58 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 1.7 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 2.12 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 2.47 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies -2.57 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 140.97 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 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.