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.
Public social spending as share of GDP in New Zealand, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 0.2% | — |
| 1890 | 0.4% | +129.4% |
| 1900 | 1.1% | +179.5% |
| 1910 | 1.4% | +23.9% |
| 1920 | 1.8% | +36.3% |
| 1930 | 2.4% | +32.1% |
| 1960 | 11.1% | +357.0% |
| 1961 | 11.0% | -0.8% |
| 1962 | 11.3% | +2.3% |
| 1963 | 10.7% | -4.9% |
| 1964 | 10.5% | -2.2% |
| 1965 | 10.3% | -2.0% |
| 1966 | 10.5% | +2.0% |
| 1967 | 10.8% | +3.3% |
| 1968 | 10.6% | -2.3% |
| 1969 | 10.2% | -3.2% |
| 1970 | 9.9% | -3.4% |
| 1971 | 9.7% | -1.8% |
| 1972 | 10.7% | +10.8% |
| 1973 | 11.3% | +4.8% |
| 1974 | 11.9% | +5.2% |
| 1975 | 12.6% | +6.5% |
| 1976 | 13.0% | +3.0% |
| 1977 | 15.3% | +18.0% |
| 1978 | 15.9% | +3.8% |
| 1979 | 15.8% | -1.0% |
| 1980 | 16.3% | +3.4% |
| 1981 | 16.5% | +1.1% |
| 1982 | 16.9% | +2.8% |
| 1983 | 16.6% | -1.9% |
| 1984 | 15.9% | -4.2% |
| 1985 | 16.3% | +2.3% |
| 1986 | 16.4% | +0.6% |
| 1987 | 17.3% | +5.3% |
| 1988 | 18.3% | +6.0% |
| 1989 | 19.6% | +7.4% |
| 1990 | 20.1% | +2.5% |
| 1991 | 20.6% | +2.1% |
| 1992 | 20.2% | -1.5% |
| 1993 | 18.8% | -7.2% |
| 1994 | 18.2% | -3.3% |
| 1995 | 17.6% | -3.1% |
| 1996 | 17.6% | -0.3% |
| 1997 | 18.6% | +5.8% |
| 1998 | 19.1% | +2.9% |
| 1999 | 18.5% | -3.4% |
| 2000 | 18.3% | -1.1% |
| 2001 | 17.6% | -3.5% |
| 2002 | 18.3% | +3.6% |
| 2003 | 17.6% | -3.4% |
| 2004 | 16.7% | -5.3% |
| 2005 | 18.6% | +11.6% |
| 2006 | 18.7% | +0.5% |
| 2007 | 19.7% | +5.0% |
| 2008 | 22.0% | +11.7% |
| 2009 | 22.3% | +1.7% |
| 2010 | 22.0% | -1.5% |
| 2011 | 21.2% | -3.5% |
| 2012 | 21.4% | +0.6% |
| 2013 | 20.6% | -3.4% |
| 2014 | 20.7% | +0.2% |
| 2015 | 20.3% | -2.0% |
| 2016 | 20.0% | -1.2% |
| 2017 | 19.9% | -0.9% |
| 2018 | 19.8% | -0.1% |
| 2019 | 24.2% | +21.9% |
| 2020 | 22.7% | -6.2% |
| 2021 | 24.2% | +6.9% |
| 2022 | 24.6% | +1.6% |
New Zealand compared with similar countries
- New Zealand's 24.6% is above the median for high income countries, which is 22.3%, 1.1× the median. (38 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Public social spending as share of GDP in New Zealand 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 | +357.0% | 2.4% | 11.1% |
| 1900 | +179.5% | 0.4% | 1.1% |
| 1890 | +129.4% | 0.2% | 0.4% |
| 1920 | +36.3% | 1.4% | 1.8% |
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
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.4532 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 9.92 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 10.93 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0459 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 10.93 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.52 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 1.53 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 42.17 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 47.53 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.2499 (2050)
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.