Public social spending as share of GDP in Croatia
Croatia: Public social spending as share of GDP was 22.5% in 2021. ▲ Rising
Public social spending as share of GDP in Croatia, 2008–2021
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 Croatia is 22.5%, measured in 2021.
The figure is down 4.3% on the previous year and up 11.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public social spending as share of gdp in Croatia peaked at 23.5% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 19.5%, in 2008.
Croatia ranks 19th of 42 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 14 years of available data.
Public social spending as share of GDP in Croatia, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 19.5% | — |
| 2009 | 21.1% | +8.3% |
| 2010 | 21.2% | +0.4% |
| 2011 | 20.2% | -4.9% |
| 2012 | 20.6% | +2.2% |
| 2013 | 20.1% | -2.3% |
| 2014 | 20.7% | +2.7% |
| 2015 | 20.7% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 20.6% | -0.3% |
| 2017 | 20.3% | -1.4% |
| 2018 | 20.6% | +1.2% |
| 2019 | 20.6% | -0.2% |
| 2020 | 23.5% | +14.3% |
| 2021 | 22.5% | -4.3% |
Croatia compared with similar countries
- Croatia's 22.5% is above the median for high income countries, which is 22.3%, 1.0× the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Croatia's 22.5% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 23.0%, 98% of the median. (30 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 20.3% | 19.5% | 21.1% | 2 |
| 2010s | 20.6% | 20.1% | 21.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 23.0% | 22.5% | 23.5% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Croatia
More reference data data for Croatia
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.2598 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.1516 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.85 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1326 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 1.85 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.8711 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.5399 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.6476 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 8.13 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.7218 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is public social spending as share of gdp in Croatia?
- Public social spending as share of gdp in Croatia was 22.5% in 2021, 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 Croatia?
- The highest recorded value was 23.5% in 2020.
- What is the lowest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in Croatia?
- The lowest recorded value was 19.5% in 2008.
- How does Croatia rank for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Croatia ranks 19th out of 42 countries with data for 2021.
- Is public social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Croatia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 11.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Croatia 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.
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CSV · JSON — 14 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.