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Public social spending as share of GDP in Latvia

Latvia: Public social spending as share of GDP was 19.7% in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
19.7%
Change on year
down 3.9%
World rank
23rd
of 42 countries
All-time high
21.7%
in 2021
All-time low
0.0%
in 1994
Years of data
30
1994–2023

Public social spending as share of GDP in Latvia, 1994–2023

051015201994200820231994: 0 % of GDP1995: 0 % of GDP1996: 0 % of GDP1997: 14.7 % of GDP1998: 15.4 % of GDP1999: 16.9 % of GDP2000: 15.7 % of GDP2001: 14.6 % of GDP2002: 14.3 % of GDP2003: 13.5 % of GDP2004: 13.6 % of GDP2005: 12.7 % of GDP2006: 12.8 % of GDP2007: 11.6 % of GDP2008: 13.6 % of GDP2009: 18.4 % of GDP2010: 19.5 % of GDP2011: 17.5 % of GDP2012: 15.9 % of GDP2013: 16.1 % of GDP2014: 15.9 % of GDP2015: 16.3 % of GDP2016: 16.5 % of GDP2017: 16.4 % of GDP2018: 16.7 % of GDP2019: 17.1 % of GDP2020: 19.2 % of GDP2021: 21.7 % of GDP2022: 20.5 % of GDP2023: 19.7 % of GDP

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

Analysis

Latvia recorded 19.7% for public social spending as share of gdp in 2023.

That represents a change of down 3.9% on the previous year and up 22.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, public social spending as share of gdp in Latvia peaked at 21.7% in 2021 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 1994.

Latvia ranks 23rd of 42 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 30 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 7.8% 0.0% 16.9% 6
2000s 14.1% 11.6% 18.4% 10
2010s 16.8% 15.9% 19.5% 10
2020s 20.3% 19.2% 21.7% 4

Countries ranked near Latvia

  1. 20 Czechia 22.1% compare
  2. 21 Bulgaria 20.5% compare
  3. 22 United States 19.8% compare
  4. 24 Canada 19.3% compare
  5. 25 Slovakia 19.3% compare
  6. 26 Iceland 19.2% compare

See the full ranking of 42 places →

More reference data data for Latvia

All data for Latvia →

Frequently asked questions

What is public social spending as share of gdp in Latvia?
Public social spending as share of gdp in Latvia was 19.7% 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 Latvia?
The highest recorded value was 21.7% in 2021.
What is the lowest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in Latvia?
The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 1994.
How does Latvia rank for public social spending as share of gdp?
Latvia ranks 23rd out of 42 countries with data for 2023.
Is public social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Latvia?
Over the last ten years it is up 22.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Latvia 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 — 30 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.