Public social spending as share of GDP in Latvia
Latvia: Public social spending as share of GDP was 19.7% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Public social spending as share of GDP in Latvia, 1994–2023
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.
Public social spending as share of GDP in Latvia, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 0.0% | — |
| 1995 | 0.0% | — |
| 1996 | 0.0% | — |
| 1997 | 14.7% | — |
| 1998 | 15.4% | +5.1% |
| 1999 | 16.9% | +9.4% |
| 2000 | 15.7% | -6.8% |
| 2001 | 14.6% | -6.9% |
| 2002 | 14.3% | -2.5% |
| 2003 | 13.5% | -5.5% |
| 2004 | 13.6% | +0.7% |
| 2005 | 12.7% | -6.3% |
| 2006 | 12.8% | +0.3% |
| 2007 | 11.6% | -8.8% |
| 2008 | 13.6% | +16.6% |
| 2009 | 18.4% | +35.7% |
| 2010 | 19.5% | +6.1% |
| 2011 | 17.5% | -10.3% |
| 2012 | 15.9% | -9.1% |
| 2013 | 16.1% | +1.1% |
| 2014 | 15.9% | -1.0% |
| 2015 | 16.3% | +2.0% |
| 2016 | 16.5% | +1.7% |
| 2017 | 16.4% | -0.9% |
| 2018 | 16.7% | +1.9% |
| 2019 | 17.1% | +2.5% |
| 2020 | 19.2% | +12.0% |
| 2021 | 21.7% | +13.2% |
| 2022 | 20.5% | -5.7% |
| 2023 | 19.7% | -3.9% |
Latvia compared with similar countries
- Latvia's 19.7% is below the median for high income countries, which is 22.3%, 88% of the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Latvia's 19.7% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 23.0%, 86% of the median. (30 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | 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
More reference data data for Latvia
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.128 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0503 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.4657 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0673 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.4657 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.4291 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.2986 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.2679 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 2.27 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.3666 (2050)
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
Public social expenditure divided bt gross domestic product, expressed as a percentage.