Public social spending as share of GDP in Denmark
Denmark: Public social spending as share of GDP was 26.4% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Public social spending as share of GDP in Denmark, 1880–2024
Source: OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Denmark recorded 26.4% for public social spending as share of gdp in 2024.
The figure is up 0.4% on the previous year and down 12.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public social spending as share of gdp in Denmark peaked at 30.2% in 2012 and was at its lowest, 1.0%, in 1880.
Denmark ranks 7th of 42 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 51 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1 |
| 1890s | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1 |
| 1900s | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1 |
| 1910s | 1.8% | 1.8% | 1.8% | 1 |
| 1920s | 2.7% | 2.7% | 2.7% | 1 |
| 1930s | 3.1% | 3.1% | 3.1% | 1 |
| 1980s | 20.3% | 19.2% | 21.5% | 10 |
| 1990s | 23.9% | 22.0% | 25.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 25.4% | 23.8% | 29.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 29.6% | 28.7% | 30.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 27.2% | 25.5% | 29.6% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Denmark
More reference data data for Denmark
- Spring temperature anomalies 1.93 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 1.96 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month -2.18 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.9586 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 2.41 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 129.7 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 Denmark?
- Public social spending as share of gdp in Denmark was 26.4% 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 Denmark?
- The highest recorded value was 30.2% in 2012.
- What is the lowest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in Denmark?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.0% in 1880.
- How does Denmark rank for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Denmark ranks 7th out of 42 countries with data for 2024.
- Is public social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Denmark?
- Over the last ten years it is down 12.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Denmark 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 — 51 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.