Public social spending as share of GDP in Netherlands
Netherlands: Public social spending as share of GDP was 18.9% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Public social spending as share of GDP in Netherlands, 1880–2024
Source: OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Netherlands recorded 18.9% for public social spending as share of gdp in 2024.
The figure is up 2.7% on the previous year and down 0.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public social spending as share of gdp in Netherlands peaked at 27.0% in 1983 and was at its lowest, 0.3%, in 1880.
That places Netherlands 27th 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 71 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 1 |
| 1890s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 1 |
| 1900s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 1 |
| 1910s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 1 |
| 1920s | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1 |
| 1930s | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1 |
| 1960s | 14.3% | 10.1% | 18.5% | 10 |
| 1970s | 22.4% | 19.3% | 25.4% | 10 |
| 1980s | 25.2% | 24.0% | 27.0% | 10 |
| 1990s | 23.3% | 20.3% | 26.0% | 10 |
| 2000s | 19.0% | 16.3% | 21.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 18.4% | 17.5% | 19.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 19.2% | 17.7% | 21.2% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Netherlands
More reference data data for Netherlands
- Spring temperature anomalies 1.61 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 2.86 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month -1.43 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.4257 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 1.62 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 146.91 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is public social spending as share of gdp in Netherlands?
- Public social spending as share of gdp in Netherlands was 18.9% 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 Netherlands?
- The highest recorded value was 27.0% in 1983.
- What is the lowest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in Netherlands?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3% in 1880.
- How does Netherlands rank for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Netherlands ranks 27th out of 42 countries with data for 2024.
- Is public social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Netherlands?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Netherlands 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 — 71 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.