Public social spending as share of GDP in Italy
Italy: Public social spending as share of GDP was 27.6% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Public social spending as share of GDP in Italy, 1880–2024
Source: OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Italy recorded 27.6% for public social spending as share of gdp in 2024.
The figure is up 0.2% on the previous year and down 1.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public social spending as share of gdp in Italy peaked at 32.5% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 1880.
Italy ranks 6th of 42 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 71 years of available data.
Public social spending as share of GDP in Italy, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 0.0% | — |
| 1890 | 0.0% | — |
| 1900 | 0.0% | — |
| 1910 | 0.0% | — |
| 1920 | 0.0% | — |
| 1930 | 0.1% | — |
| 1960 | 10.7% | +13221.6% |
| 1961 | 10.4% | -2.0% |
| 1962 | 11.3% | +7.9% |
| 1963 | 11.6% | +3.0% |
| 1964 | 11.7% | +0.6% |
| 1965 | 13.2% | +12.7% |
| 1966 | 13.3% | +1.0% |
| 1967 | 13.2% | -0.8% |
| 1968 | 13.5% | +2.2% |
| 1969 | 13.8% | +2.7% |
| 1970 | 13.8% | -0.2% |
| 1971 | 14.8% | +6.9% |
| 1972 | 15.8% | +7.1% |
| 1973 | 15.6% | -1.5% |
| 1974 | 15.7% | +1.1% |
| 1975 | 17.1% | +8.8% |
| 1976 | 17.2% | +0.3% |
| 1977 | 16.5% | -3.6% |
| 1978 | 17.9% | +8.2% |
| 1979 | 17.3% | -3.6% |
| 1980 | 17.3% | +0.1% |
| 1981 | 18.6% | +7.8% |
| 1982 | 19.1% | +2.5% |
| 1983 | 20.1% | +5.3% |
| 1984 | 19.7% | -2.1% |
| 1985 | 20.0% | +1.6% |
| 1986 | 20.0% | -0.0% |
| 1987 | 20.2% | +1.1% |
| 1988 | 20.1% | -0.7% |
| 1989 | 20.2% | +0.8% |
| 1990 | 20.6% | +1.7% |
| 1991 | 21.0% | +1.8% |
| 1992 | 21.7% | +3.5% |
| 1993 | 21.9% | +1.2% |
| 1994 | 21.9% | -0.1% |
| 1995 | 21.0% | -4.2% |
| 1996 | 21.4% | +2.0% |
| 1997 | 22.1% | +3.1% |
| 1998 | 22.2% | +0.7% |
| 1999 | 22.7% | +1.9% |
| 2000 | 22.6% | -0.5% |
| 2001 | 22.7% | +0.8% |
| 2002 | 23.1% | +1.8% |
| 2003 | 23.5% | +1.5% |
| 2004 | 23.7% | +1.1% |
| 2005 | 24.0% | +1.0% |
| 2006 | 24.1% | +0.4% |
| 2007 | 23.9% | -0.7% |
| 2008 | 24.8% | +3.9% |
| 2009 | 26.8% | +8.0% |
| 2010 | 26.8% | -0.0% |
| 2011 | 26.4% | -1.5% |
| 2012 | 27.1% | +2.6% |
| 2013 | 27.7% | +2.3% |
| 2014 | 28.0% | +0.9% |
| 2015 | 28.2% | +0.7% |
| 2016 | 27.8% | -1.5% |
| 2017 | 27.5% | -0.9% |
| 2018 | 27.4% | -0.4% |
| 2019 | 27.6% | +0.7% |
| 2020 | 32.5% | +17.7% |
| 2021 | 29.8% | -8.2% |
| 2022 | 28.2% | -5.3% |
| 2023 | 27.5% | -2.6% |
| 2024 | 27.6% | +0.2% |
Italy compared with similar countries
- Italy's 27.6% is above the median for high income countries, which is 22.3%, 1.2× the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Italy's 27.6% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 23.0%, 1.2× the median. (30 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Public social spending as share of GDP in Italy 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | +13221.6% | 0.1% | 10.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1 |
| 1890s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1 |
| 1900s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1 |
| 1910s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1 |
| 1920s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1 |
| 1930s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 1 |
| 1960s | 12.3% | 10.4% | 13.8% | 10 |
| 1970s | 16.2% | 13.8% | 17.9% | 10 |
| 1980s | 19.5% | 17.3% | 20.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 21.7% | 20.6% | 22.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 23.9% | 22.6% | 26.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 27.5% | 26.4% | 28.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 29.1% | 27.5% | 32.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Italy
More reference data data for Italy
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 2.5 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.48 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 8.94 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.927 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 8.94 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 8.37 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 5.21 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 6.51 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 41.74 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 5.05 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is public social spending as share of gdp in Italy?
- Public social spending as share of gdp in Italy was 27.6% 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 Italy?
- The highest recorded value was 32.5% in 2020.
- What is the lowest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in Italy?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 1880.
- How does Italy rank for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Italy ranks 6th out of 42 countries with data for 2024.
- Is public social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Italy?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Italy 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.
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About this data
Public social expenditure divided bt gross domestic product, expressed as a percentage.