Public social spending as share of GDP in Switzerland
Switzerland: Public social spending as share of GDP was 16.0% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Public social spending as share of GDP in Switzerland, 1930–2024
Source: OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
The most recent figure for public social spending as share of gdp in Switzerland is 16.0%, measured in 2024.
That represents a change of up 3.4% on the previous year and up 3.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public social spending as share of gdp in Switzerland peaked at 19.3% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 1.2%, in 1930.
That places Switzerland 34th out of 42 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 46 years of available data.
Public social spending as share of GDP in Switzerland, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1930 | 1.2% | — |
| 1980 | 11.5% | +882.2% |
| 1981 | 11.2% | -2.2% |
| 1982 | 11.9% | +5.7% |
| 1983 | 12.2% | +2.9% |
| 1984 | 13.3% | +8.5% |
| 1985 | 12.9% | -2.6% |
| 1986 | 13.1% | +0.9% |
| 1987 | 13.2% | +0.9% |
| 1988 | 13.2% | +0.5% |
| 1989 | 12.9% | -2.1% |
| 1990 | 12.6% | -2.4% |
| 1991 | 13.4% | +6.2% |
| 1992 | 14.8% | +10.1% |
| 1993 | 16.1% | +8.8% |
| 1994 | 16.1% | -0.2% |
| 1995 | 14.1% | -11.9% |
| 1996 | 14.4% | +2.0% |
| 1997 | 14.8% | +2.9% |
| 1998 | 14.9% | +0.1% |
| 1999 | 14.7% | -1.1% |
| 2000 | 13.9% | -5.5% |
| 2001 | 14.1% | +1.6% |
| 2002 | 15.1% | +7.0% |
| 2003 | 15.6% | +3.6% |
| 2004 | 15.6% | -0.5% |
| 2005 | 15.4% | -0.9% |
| 2006 | 14.7% | -4.8% |
| 2007 | 14.1% | -3.8% |
| 2008 | 13.8% | -2.6% |
| 2009 | 15.2% | +10.7% |
| 2010 | 15.0% | -1.7% |
| 2011 | 14.9% | -0.2% |
| 2012 | 15.2% | +1.7% |
| 2013 | 15.5% | +1.8% |
| 2014 | 15.4% | -0.2% |
| 2015 | 15.9% | +3.0% |
| 2016 | 16.1% | +1.3% |
| 2017 | 16.3% | +1.1% |
| 2018 | 15.8% | -3.0% |
| 2019 | 16.0% | +1.3% |
| 2020 | 19.3% | +20.5% |
| 2021 | 17.5% | -9.4% |
| 2022 | 15.5% | -11.5% |
| 2023 | 15.5% | +0.1% |
| 2024 | 16.0% | +3.4% |
Switzerland compared with similar countries
- Switzerland's 16.0% is below the median for high income countries, which is 22.3%, 72% of the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Switzerland's 16.0% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 23.0%, 70% of the median. (30 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Public social spending as share of GDP in Switzerland 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | +882.2% | 1.2% | 11.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1 |
| 1980s | 12.5% | 11.2% | 13.3% | 10 |
| 1990s | 14.6% | 12.6% | 16.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 14.7% | 13.8% | 15.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 15.6% | 14.9% | 16.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 16.7% | 15.5% | 19.3% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Switzerland
More reference data data for Switzerland
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.5507 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.2683 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.24 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.05 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 1.24 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.85 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 1.28 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.37 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 6.28 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.272 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is public social spending as share of gdp in Switzerland?
- Public social spending as share of gdp in Switzerland was 16.0% 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 Switzerland?
- The highest recorded value was 19.3% in 2020.
- What is the lowest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in Switzerland?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.2% in 1930.
- How does Switzerland rank for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Switzerland ranks 34th out of 42 countries with data for 2024.
- Is public social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Switzerland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Switzerland 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 — 46 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.