Public social spending as share of GDP in New Zealand
New Zealand: Public social spending as share of GDP was 24.6% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Public social spending as share of GDP in New Zealand, 1880–2022
Source: OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2022, public social spending as share of gdp in New Zealand stood at 24.6%. That is the highest value across all 69 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.6% on the previous year and up 15.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public social spending as share of gdp in New Zealand peaked at 24.6% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 1880.
New Zealand ranks 11th of 42 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 69 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 1 |
| 1890s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 1 |
| 1900s | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1 |
| 1910s | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1 |
| 1920s | 1.8% | 1.8% | 1.8% | 1 |
| 1930s | 2.4% | 2.4% | 2.4% | 1 |
| 1960s | 10.7% | 10.2% | 11.3% | 10 |
| 1970s | 12.6% | 9.7% | 15.9% | 10 |
| 1980s | 17.0% | 15.9% | 19.6% | 10 |
| 1990s | 18.9% | 17.6% | 20.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 19.0% | 16.7% | 22.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 21.0% | 19.8% | 24.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 23.8% | 22.7% | 24.6% | 3 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More reference data data for New Zealand
- Spring temperature anomalies 0.2008 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 1.76 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.0464 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.5251 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.5536 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 144.86 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 New Zealand?
- Public social spending as share of gdp in New Zealand was 24.6% in 2022, 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 New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 24.6% in 2022.
- What is the lowest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 1880.
- How does New Zealand rank for public social spending as share of gdp?
- New Zealand ranks 11th out of 42 countries with data for 2022.
- Is public social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is up 15.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this New Zealand 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 — 69 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.