Public social spending as share of GDP in Spain
Spain: Public social spending as share of GDP was 25.9% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Public social spending as share of GDP in Spain, 1980–2024
Source: OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2024, public social spending as share of gdp in Spain stood at 25.9%.
The figure is down 0.2% on the previous year and up 2.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public social spending as share of gdp in Spain peaked at 30.6% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 15.0%, in 1980.
That places Spain 9th out of 42 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 45 years of available data.
Public social spending as share of GDP in Spain, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 15.0% | — |
| 1981 | 16.1% | +7.4% |
| 1982 | 16.1% | +0.1% |
| 1983 | 16.8% | +4.5% |
| 1984 | 16.6% | -1.3% |
| 1985 | 17.1% | +3.2% |
| 1986 | 16.8% | -1.5% |
| 1987 | 16.7% | -0.7% |
| 1988 | 17.2% | +2.9% |
| 1989 | 17.3% | +0.7% |
| 1990 | 19.2% | +10.6% |
| 1991 | 19.9% | +3.8% |
| 1992 | 21.0% | +5.7% |
| 1993 | 22.3% | +5.9% |
| 1994 | 21.3% | -4.5% |
| 1995 | 20.6% | -3.0% |
| 1996 | 20.5% | -0.5% |
| 1997 | 20.0% | -2.8% |
| 1998 | 19.9% | -0.6% |
| 1999 | 19.7% | -0.6% |
| 2000 | 19.0% | -3.6% |
| 2001 | 18.6% | -2.0% |
| 2002 | 18.9% | +1.2% |
| 2003 | 19.5% | +3.3% |
| 2004 | 19.7% | +1.2% |
| 2005 | 19.9% | +1.2% |
| 2006 | 20.0% | +0.3% |
| 2007 | 20.2% | +0.8% |
| 2008 | 21.4% | +6.2% |
| 2009 | 24.7% | +15.2% |
| 2010 | 24.9% | +0.8% |
| 2011 | 25.5% | +2.5% |
| 2012 | 25.4% | -0.2% |
| 2013 | 25.6% | +0.6% |
| 2014 | 25.2% | -1.4% |
| 2015 | 24.5% | -2.8% |
| 2016 | 24.0% | -1.8% |
| 2017 | 23.6% | -2.0% |
| 2018 | 23.7% | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 24.3% | +2.6% |
| 2020 | 30.6% | +25.7% |
| 2021 | 28.4% | -7.2% |
| 2022 | 26.0% | -8.6% |
| 2023 | 25.9% | -0.1% |
| 2024 | 25.9% | -0.2% |
Spain compared with similar countries
- Spain's 25.9% is above the median for high income countries, which is 22.3%, 1.2× the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Spain's 25.9% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 23.0%, 1.1× the median. (30 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Public social spending as share of GDP in Spain 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +25.7% | 24.3% | 30.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 16.6% | 15.0% | 17.3% | 10 |
| 1990s | 20.4% | 19.2% | 22.3% | 10 |
| 2000s | 20.2% | 18.6% | 24.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 24.7% | 23.6% | 25.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 27.4% | 25.9% | 30.6% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Spain
More reference data data for Spain
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 3.18 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 2.85 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 11.76 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.898 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 11.76 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 10.67 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 6.03 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 11.06 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 52.4 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 4.89 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is public social spending as share of gdp in Spain?
- Public social spending as share of gdp in Spain was 25.9% 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 Spain?
- The highest recorded value was 30.6% in 2020.
- What is the lowest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in Spain?
- The lowest recorded value was 15.0% in 1980.
- How does Spain rank for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Spain ranks 9th out of 42 countries with data for 2024.
- Is public social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Spain?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Spain 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 — 45 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.