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Public social spending as share of GDP in Iceland

Iceland: Public social spending as share of GDP was 19.2% in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
19.2%
Change on year
up 3.1%
World rank
26th
of 42 countries
All-time high
23.1%
in 2020
All-time low
13.3%
in 1990
Years of data
35
1990–2024

Public social spending as share of GDP in Iceland, 1990–2024

05101520251990200720241990: 13.3 % of GDP1991: 13.7 % of GDP1992: 14.3 % of GDP1993: 14.6 % of GDP1994: 14.4 % of GDP1995: 14.7 % of GDP1996: 14.6 % of GDP1997: 14.1 % of GDP1998: 14.2 % of GDP1999: 14.4 % of GDP2000: 14.5 % of GDP2001: 14.5 % of GDP2002: 15.8 % of GDP2003: 16.7 % of GDP2004: 16.5 % of GDP2005: 15.6 % of GDP2006: 15 % of GDP2007: 15.8 % of GDP2008: 16.1 % of GDP2009: 18.5 % of GDP2010: 17.7 % of GDP2011: 18.2 % of GDP2012: 17.8 % of GDP2013: 17.4 % of GDP2014: 17.6 % of GDP2015: 16.7 % of GDP2016: 16.6 % of GDP2017: 17.6 % of GDP2018: 17.8 % of GDP2019: 18.9 % of GDP2020: 23.1 % of GDP2021: 22.7 % of GDP2022: 19.6 % of GDP2023: 18.6 % of GDP2024: 19.2 % of GDP

Source: OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.

Analysis

The most recent figure for public social spending as share of gdp in Iceland is 19.2%, measured in 2024.

That represents a change of up 3.1% on the previous year and up 9.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, public social spending as share of gdp in Iceland peaked at 23.1% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 13.3%, in 1990.

That places Iceland 26th out of 42 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 35 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 14.2% 13.3% 14.7% 10
2000s 15.9% 14.5% 18.5% 10
2010s 17.6% 16.6% 18.9% 10
2020s 20.6% 18.6% 23.1% 5

Countries ranked near Iceland

  1. 23 Latvia 19.7% compare
  2. 24 Canada 19.3% compare
  3. 25 Slovakia 19.3% compare
  4. 27 Netherlands 18.9% compare
  5. 28 Hungary 18.0% compare
  6. 29 Romania 17.6% compare

See the full ranking of 42 places →

More reference data data for Iceland

All data for Iceland →

Frequently asked questions

What is public social spending as share of gdp in Iceland?
Public social spending as share of gdp in Iceland was 19.2% 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 Iceland?
The highest recorded value was 23.1% in 2020.
What is the lowest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in Iceland?
The lowest recorded value was 13.3% in 1990.
How does Iceland rank for public social spending as share of gdp?
Iceland ranks 26th out of 42 countries with data for 2024.
Is public social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Iceland?
Over the last ten years it is up 9.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Iceland 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 — 35 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.