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

51015202530196019922024

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.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest 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

  1. 12 Portugal 24.1% compare
  2. 13 Norway 24.1% compare
  3. 16 Poland 23.1% compare
  4. 17 Slovenia 23.0% compare
  5. 18 United Kingdom 23.0% compare

See the full ranking of 42 places →

More reference data data for Greece

All data for Greece →

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

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.