Public social spending as share of GDP in Croatia

Croatia: Public social spending as share of GDP was 22.5% in 2021. ▲ Rising

Latest (2021)
22.5%
Change on year
down 4.3%
World rank
19th
of 42 countries
All-time high
23.5%
in 2020
All-time low
19.5%
in 2008
Years of data
14
2008–2021

Public social spending as share of GDP in Croatia, 2008–2021

05101520252008201420212008: 19.5 % of GDP2009: 21.1 % of GDP2010: 21.2 % of GDP2011: 20.2 % of GDP2012: 20.6 % of GDP2013: 20.1 % of GDP2014: 20.7 % of GDP2015: 20.7 % of GDP2016: 20.6 % of GDP2017: 20.3 % of GDP2018: 20.6 % of GDP2019: 20.6 % of GDP2020: 23.5 % of GDP2021: 22.5 % of GDP

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.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest 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

  1. 16 Poland 23.1% compare
  2. 17 Slovenia 23.0% compare
  3. 18 United Kingdom 23.0% compare
  4. 20 Czechia 22.1% compare
  5. 21 Bulgaria 20.5% compare
  6. 22 United States 19.8% compare

See the full ranking of 42 places →

More reference data data for Croatia

All data for Croatia →

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.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Public social spending as share of GDP
Unit
% of GDP
Source
OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
42 places, 1,937 data points, 1880–2024
Last refreshed

Public social expenditure divided bt gross domestic product, expressed as a percentage.