Public social spending as share of GDP in Estonia
Estonia: Public social spending as share of GDP was 17.2% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Public social spending as share of GDP in Estonia, 1999–2023
Source: OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2023, public social spending as share of gdp in Estonia stood at 17.2%.
The figure is down 0.9% on the previous year and up 9.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public social spending as share of gdp in Estonia peaked at 21.4% in 2006 and was at its lowest, 12.6%, in 2007.
That places Estonia 30th out of 42 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Public social spending as share of GDP in Estonia, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 15.2% | — |
| 2000 | 13.9% | -8.4% |
| 2001 | 13.1% | -5.8% |
| 2002 | 12.8% | -2.4% |
| 2003 | 13.1% | +2.6% |
| 2004 | 13.5% | +3.1% |
| 2005 | 13.1% | -3.1% |
| 2006 | 21.4% | +63.0% |
| 2007 | 12.6% | -40.9% |
| 2008 | 15.5% | +22.4% |
| 2009 | 19.8% | +28.1% |
| 2010 | 18.5% | -6.7% |
| 2011 | 16.5% | -11.1% |
| 2012 | 15.9% | -3.1% |
| 2013 | 15.8% | -1.1% |
| 2014 | 16.1% | +2.1% |
| 2015 | 17.3% | +7.8% |
| 2016 | 17.5% | +1.1% |
| 2017 | 17.0% | -2.9% |
| 2018 | 17.5% | +2.6% |
| 2019 | 17.8% | +2.0% |
| 2020 | 20.3% | +14.0% |
| 2021 | 19.0% | -6.2% |
| 2022 | 17.4% | -8.8% |
| 2023 | 17.2% | -0.9% |
Estonia compared with similar countries
- Estonia's 17.2% is below the median for high income countries, which is 22.3%, 77% of the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Estonia's 17.2% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 23.0%, 75% of the median. (30 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Public social spending as share of GDP in Estonia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | +63.0% | 13.1% | 21.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 15.2% | 15.2% | 15.2% | 1 |
| 2000s | 14.9% | 12.6% | 21.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 17.0% | 15.8% | 18.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 18.5% | 17.2% | 20.3% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Estonia
More reference data data for Estonia
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0827 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0328 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.2652 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0363 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.2652 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.2774 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.193 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.1743 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.31 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1975 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is public social spending as share of gdp in Estonia?
- Public social spending as share of gdp in Estonia was 17.2% in 2023, 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 Estonia?
- The highest recorded value was 21.4% in 2006.
- What is the lowest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in Estonia?
- The lowest recorded value was 12.6% in 2007.
- How does Estonia rank for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Estonia ranks 30th out of 42 countries with data for 2023.
- Is public social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Estonia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Estonia 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 — 25 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.