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.
Public social spending as share of GDP in Denmark, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 1.0% | — |
| 1890 | 1.1% | +15.6% |
| 1900 | 1.4% | +27.0% |
| 1910 | 1.8% | +24.1% |
| 1920 | 2.7% | +54.9% |
| 1930 | 3.1% | +14.8% |
| 1980 | 20.4% | +554.3% |
| 1981 | 20.3% | -0.4% |
| 1982 | 20.1% | -0.9% |
| 1983 | 20.2% | +0.5% |
| 1984 | 19.3% | -4.3% |
| 1985 | 19.2% | -0.5% |
| 1986 | 19.7% | +2.7% |
| 1987 | 20.5% | +3.9% |
| 1988 | 21.5% | +4.7% |
| 1989 | 21.5% | +0.1% |
| 1990 | 22.0% | +2.1% |
| 1991 | 22.4% | +2.1% |
| 1992 | 22.6% | +0.8% |
| 1993 | 23.8% | +5.4% |
| 1994 | 25.4% | +6.9% |
| 1995 | 25.5% | +0.3% |
| 1996 | 25.0% | -2.2% |
| 1997 | 24.2% | -3.1% |
| 1998 | 23.8% | -1.8% |
| 1999 | 24.6% | +3.4% |
| 2000 | 23.8% | -3.2% |
| 2001 | 24.3% | +2.1% |
| 2002 | 24.8% | +2.1% |
| 2003 | 25.3% | +2.0% |
| 2004 | 25.1% | -0.9% |
| 2005 | 25.1% | +0.3% |
| 2006 | 24.9% | -0.9% |
| 2007 | 25.8% | +3.7% |
| 2008 | 26.2% | +1.4% |
| 2009 | 29.2% | +11.3% |
| 2010 | 29.9% | +2.5% |
| 2011 | 30.0% | +0.4% |
| 2012 | 30.2% | +0.8% |
| 2013 | 30.0% | -0.9% |
| 2014 | 30.0% | +0.3% |
| 2015 | 30.1% | +0.1% |
| 2016 | 29.5% | -1.8% |
| 2017 | 29.0% | -1.7% |
| 2018 | 28.8% | -0.9% |
| 2019 | 28.7% | -0.1% |
| 2020 | 29.6% | +2.9% |
| 2021 | 28.1% | -5.0% |
| 2022 | 25.5% | -9.3% |
| 2023 | 26.3% | +3.3% |
| 2024 | 26.4% | +0.4% |
Denmark compared with similar countries
- Denmark's 26.4% is above the median for high income countries, which is 22.3%, 1.2× the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Denmark's 26.4% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 23.0%, 1.1× the median. (30 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Public social spending as share of GDP in Denmark 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | +554.3% | 3.1% | 20.4% |
| 1920 | +54.9% | 1.8% | 2.7% |
| 1900 | +27.0% | 1.1% | 1.4% |
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
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.1 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.1915 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 2.65 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.4109 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 2.65 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 3.7 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 2.16 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.03 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 12.99 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.24 (2050)
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.