Public social spending as share of GDP in United States
United States: Public social spending as share of GDP was 19.8% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Public social spending as share of GDP in United States, 1880–2024
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 United States stood at 19.8%.
That represents a change of up 4.6% on the previous year and up 7.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public social spending as share of gdp in United States peaked at 23.7% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.3%, in 1880.
United States ranks 22nd of 42 countries on this measure, 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 | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1 |
| 1900s | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 1 |
| 1910s | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 1 |
| 1920s | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 1 |
| 1930s | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 1 |
| 1960s | 7.0% | 6.2% | 8.0% | 10 |
| 1970s | 10.9% | 8.9% | 12.4% | 10 |
| 1980s | 13.0% | 12.6% | 13.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 14.5% | 13.2% | 15.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 15.7% | 14.1% | 18.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 18.5% | 18.2% | 19.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 20.6% | 19.0% | 23.7% | 5 |
Countries ranked near United States
More reference data data for United States
- Spring temperature anomalies 2.51 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.5014 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.0594 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.8696 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.9189 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 143.86 2010 = 100 (2024)
- 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 United States?
- Public social spending as share of gdp in United States was 19.8% 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 United States?
- The highest recorded value was 23.7% in 2020.
- What is the lowest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3% in 1880.
- How does United States rank for public social spending as share of gdp?
- United States ranks 22nd out of 42 countries with data for 2024.
- Is public social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States 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.