Public social spending as share of GDP in Greece
Greece: Public social spending as share of GDP was 23.7% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Latest (2024)
23.7%
Change on year
up 0.1%
World rank
15th
of 42 countries
All-time high
28.6%
in 2020
All-time low
6.2%
in 1960
Years of data
65
1960–2024
Public social spending as share of GDP in Greece, 1960–2024
Source: OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Greece recorded 23.7% for public social spending as share of gdp in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.1% on the previous year and down 7.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public social spending as share of gdp in Greece peaked at 28.6% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 6.2%, in 1960.
Greece ranks 15th of 42 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 65 years of available data.
Public social spending as share of GDP in Greece, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 6.2% | — |
| 1961 | 6.2% | +1.0% |
| 1962 | 6.4% | +2.2% |
| 1963 | 6.7% | +4.6% |
| 1964 | 6.9% | +3.6% |
| 1965 | 7.4% | +6.8% |
| 1966 | 7.7% | +4.6% |
| 1967 | 8.3% | +7.2% |
| 1968 | 8.6% | +3.3% |
| 1969 | 8.2% | -4.1% |
| 1970 | 8.2% | -0.5% |
| 1971 | 8.2% | +0.5% |
| 1972 | 7.8% | -4.4% |
| 1973 | 7.1% | -9.4% |
| 1974 | 7.6% | +6.3% |
| 1975 | 7.8% | +3.5% |
| 1976 | 8.2% | +4.6% |
| 1977 | 9.0% | +9.9% |
| 1978 | 9.6% | +7.1% |
| 1979 | 9.4% | -2.0% |
| 1980 | 10.0% | +6.0% |
| 1981 | 12.0% | +20.4% |
| 1982 | 14.1% | +17.4% |
| 1983 | 14.7% | +3.9% |
| 1984 | 15.0% | +2.1% |
| 1985 | 15.6% | +3.9% |
| 1986 | 15.4% | -1.0% |
| 1987 | 15.4% | -0.2% |
| 1988 | 14.1% | -8.2% |
| 1989 | 15.0% | +6.0% |
| 1990 | 15.9% | +6.4% |
| 1991 | 15.4% | -3.5% |
| 1992 | 15.6% | +1.4% |
| 1993 | 16.5% | +5.5% |
| 1994 | 16.5% | +0.2% |
| 1995 | 16.8% | +2.1% |
| 1996 | 17.4% | +3.4% |
| 1997 | 17.4% | +0.2% |
| 1998 | 18.1% | +3.5% |
| 1999 | 18.7% | +3.5% |
| 2000 | 18.4% | -1.4% |
| 2001 | 19.2% | +4.4% |
| 2002 | 18.9% | -1.8% |
| 2003 | 18.7% | -1.1% |
| 2004 | 18.8% | +0.5% |
| 2005 | 20.0% | +6.4% |
| 2006 | 19.7% | -1.4% |
| 2007 | 20.4% | +3.7% |
| 2008 | 21.9% | +7.0% |
| 2009 | 24.2% | +10.9% |
| 2010 | 25.1% | +3.5% |
| 2011 | 26.4% | +5.4% |
| 2012 | 27.8% | +5.1% |
| 2013 | 25.7% | -7.5% |
| 2014 | 25.7% | -0.1% |
| 2015 | 25.9% | +0.7% |
| 2016 | 26.1% | +0.7% |
| 2017 | 25.1% | -3.6% |
| 2018 | 24.9% | -1.0% |
| 2019 | 24.8% | -0.2% |
| 2020 | 28.6% | +15.1% |
| 2021 | 26.4% | -7.7% |
| 2022 | 24.4% | -7.3% |
| 2023 | 23.7% | -3.0% |
| 2024 | 23.7% | +0.1% |
Greece compared with similar countries
- Greece's 23.7% is above the median for high income countries, which is 22.3%, 1.1× the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Greece's 23.7% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 23.0%, 1.0× the median. (30 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 7.3% | 6.2% | 8.6% | 10 |
| 1970s | 8.3% | 7.1% | 9.6% | 10 |
| 1980s | 14.1% | 10.0% | 15.6% | 10 |
| 1990s | 16.8% | 15.4% | 18.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 20.0% | 18.4% | 24.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 25.7% | 24.8% | 27.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 25.4% | 23.7% | 28.6% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Greece
More reference data data for Greece
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.4067 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.38 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 2.86 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.2183 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 2.86 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.36 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.7298 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 4.78 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 11.6 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.19 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is public social spending as share of gdp in Greece?
- Public social spending as share of gdp in Greece was 23.7% 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 Greece?
- The highest recorded value was 28.6% in 2020.
- What is the lowest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in Greece?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.2% in 1960.
- How does Greece rank for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Greece ranks 15th out of 42 countries with data for 2024.
- Is public social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Greece?
- Over the last ten years it is down 7.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Greece 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 — 65 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.